Revenge and Absolution
by Furyan Goddess
Summary: M for language, content and violence.  RiddickOC.  This is a reworked version of Somewhere in the Night. Takes place ofter PB No TCoR.  See first chappie for summary
1. Chapter 1

**Author:** Furyan Goddess **  
Title:** Revenge and Absolution  
**Rating:** NC17.Language, sexual content and violence  
**Fandom:** Post Pitch Black. Jack never killed anyone like in DF and she was still a kind of 'scared, pissed off little girl' she was in PB AU/ No TCoR.Everything is the same up until this point. Riddick left shortly after dumping Jack and Imam on Helion Prime. **  
Disclaimer:** Do NOT own Riddick, Jack, Imam, Johns, Toombs or anyone or anything that is from the Pitch Black/Riddick Universe.  
**Summary:** A woman seeking revenge on a man that ruined her life.  
**Pairing:** Riddick/OC **  
Archive:** Yes, just ask  
**Feedback:** Yes, always... I LOVE LOVE LOVE feedback... Thought and ideas and comments. If you have a major gripe, PM me.   
**Author's Notes:** This is a combined story. Part of this was from "Somewhere in the Night". I was uncomfortable with the content of that story and decided to rework it into this one. It was originally posted at so if you happen to recognize pieces of that, then… it isn't stolen… it's mine

There's a story here that needs to be told before Riddick enters in the picture. Bear with me, please. Happy reading and I hope you enjoy.

:kiss to LouRose for Beta

**Revenge****-** _consists primarily of retaliation against a person or group in response to a perceived wrongdoing. Although many aspects of revenge resemble or echo the concept of __justice__, revenge usually has a more injurious than harmonious goal. The vengeful wish consists of forcing the perceived wrongdoer to suffer the same pain that they inflicted in the first place.__Synonyms: Vengeance, Retribution, Payback, Settling the score, Reprisal._

Revenge is a dirty word, a dirty thing and a dirty need. The act that makes you seek it. The need for retribution that makes you want it. Revenge. The getting back at someone for something. An eye for an eye. Vengeance. Settling the score, anyway you say it, it's nasty business.

It was revenge that had her seeking him out. Revenge that had her willing, itching to pull the trigger and blow the fucker away for good. Revenge. Some say it's sweet, others say a dish best served cold.

Revenge is the only thing that has kept her going for the last two years. Always searching, seeking the animal that tore her world apart. She'd been a step behind him all the way, just one small step. But in this case it might as well have been a chasm.

She had asked around and rumor said he had died on a deserted planet two years ago. She doesn't believe that lie. Maybe she didn't want to believe it because it would keep her from killing him herself. No, the fucker she sought would never go out that way. No glory in dying quick and clean in a crash, no way to take anyone else out with him. She won't believe he's dead, not until she pulls the trigger herself and watches the fucker die slow.

Word was, that a small skiff was picked up shortly after the crash on the deserted planet, carrying three people. A boy and two men, one of which was a black, holy man. Not the man she has been looking for. No, this man is evil incarnate. As for the other man? Well, he just might be the devil she was looking for. But, in his true devil spawn form, he just fell out of existence with no more than a wisp of smoke to prove he'd ever lived.

She knew he had lived and she knew his true from. She'd find him and he would die. It's that simple. There was no other way. To save others, she would sacrifice herself before he managed to hurt anyone else.

She was on Helion Prime now, seeking out the holy man for answers. He wasn't a hard man to find, being a Councilman. She knocked on his front door and when it was opened, she found herself looking at a young teenage girl. While slightly shocked, she thought nothing of the girl and asked to see the holy man. The girl let her in after a moment of hesitation… and changed the course of their lives forever.

She looked around the house while she waited for the Holy Man. It's nice and soothing with a gentle cross breeze and deep masculine colors. He came into the room and extended his hand to her, "Hello. Welcome to my home. I am Imam. How can I help you?" He asked, truly puzzled. What would this woman want that was so important that she sought him out at home?

She shook his hand and said, "I'm Tracy." She looked pointedly at the thin girl behind him but Imam made no move to introduce them. Tracy sighed and decided to get on with why she was there. "I'm here to talk about a man you know."

The girl stiffened her spine and a very defiant and protective look came in to her eyes. Tracy looked at her and wondered why she would want to protect such an animal. Maybe she was too young to know the true monster he was?

"Jack, go to your room." Imam ordered the girl but she refused.

"I have as much right to be here as you do," she said to him but never taking her eyes off Tracy. He must have agreed because he let her stay, or he was use to her insolence and knew a losing battle when he saw one. The small woman-child had steel in her spine and way too much knowledge and pain in her young eyes.

"I don't know if we can be of any help, Tracy." Imam said with a sigh. He really didn't want to talk about Riddick. Sure, the man had saved their lives but Imam remembered how devastated Jack was when he had left. It took Imam months to get her back to her 'normal' Jack self, however bitter and jaded that was, it had been worse since he had left.

"Three of you got off that planet," Tracy stated and then looked at the girl. "One was supposed to be a boy?"

"I ain't a boy!" Jack yelled. She looked to be about fifteen and had more than her fair share of early teen angst built up.

Tracy looked at her. Her hair was short, still above her shoulders and grew in a wild mass of curls and her eyes were green and flashed hard and cold. It was shocking that someone so young could hate and distrust so much as she did. She would be beautiful in a few years, once she grew out of the lanky early puberty stage. She'd fill out, but would always remain lean and muscular. Even now, Tracy could see an underlying, almost feline grace. You can't be taught that. It was born into you or forged in the fires of hell. Tracy would guess, by the look in the girl's eyes, it was the latter.

"I can see that. I wonder what else wasn't as it seemed." Tracy replied mildly and looked at Imam. "The other man, who was he, really, and where can I find him?"

"We ain't tellin' you nothing." Jack barked at her, her small body coiled tightly with a mix of fear and anger.

"Jack," Imam scolded. Jack shut up but she stood there and vibrated with anger. Tracy looked at her and wondered what her story was. Why was she so quick to protect a murderer?

"That man you're trying so hard to protect, sweetheart, is a cold blooded murder," Tracy told her simply. She was tired of chasing him, tired of the games. She just wanted him dead so she could go on with her pathetic life or finally end it.

Jack slipped around Imam and stepped in front of Tracy, "I'd die before I told you were Riddick is." She growled at Tracy and tried to shrug off Imam's restraining hand.

"Riddick?" Tracy gasped in question, "Is that the man that escaped with you?" she asked Jack.

"This is what happens when you speak too rashly, Young Jack." Imam let out a deep, calming breath and continued, "Yes," Imam answered truthfully when he saw the look on Tracy's face. All the color had drained out if it and he could tell that wasn't the person she was looking for or expecting.

"His name was Riddick? Are you sure? Not Johns? William J. Johns? He was a bounty hunter," Tracy asked as started shake. It couldn't be true, could it? Could Johns really have died on that planet? She knew for a fact that he had been on the Hunter-Granzer when it went down. Tracy had tried to book passage on it, but was too late. All they cryo lockers were full.

"Johns is dead, the piece of shit. Riddick killed him," Jack told Tracy, defending her idol, "Before he killed me. I ain't telling you where Riddick is, wouldn't even if I knew. Neither would Imam so just get your shit and go, merc."Tracy gasped as if Jack had slapped her. Merc. Never! Why would they think she was a merc? Because she was looking for Johns? Tracy had heard of Riddick, everyone had apart from 'polite' society that chose not to deal with the dregs of humanity and pretended they didn't exist.

"JACK!" Imam barked. "That is enough of that language. She isn't here for Riddick. And she isn't a merc." Imam said as he looked at Tracy.

She knew what he would see. A woman that had average length brown curly hair and brown eyes. A woman who was slightly above average looking, height and weight. Tracy was average everything but for the fire in her eyes that burned for retribution.

"Are you?" Imam asked.

Tracy shook her head weakly, "No." She blinked and tried to straighten the suddenly tilting world, "Johns is dead? Are you sure?" she asked looking up into Imam's face. He nodded at her and she felt her world collapse once again. She would never get her revenge. Payback for what he had done to her, to her family. "I… ok, I'll go now. Thank you for your time, Imam. Jack." Tracy muttered, defeated.

Tracy turned and stared at the door as if she didn't know how to open it. "Wait," Imam said, "Stay for dinner and perhaps you can tell us why you are looking for the merc named Johns."

Tracy was so beside herself that she agreed before she thought better of it. "Ok," she replied weakly, not knowing what else to do. She had been fully prepared to die at Johns hand as long as she took him out first or at the same time. Now he was gone and she had nothing. She was left feeling empty and unfulfilled. All her hate and rage was left with no outlet. It would simmer and eventually destroy her if she didn't find another outlet for it.

Two years of her life, spent looking for a man that had been dead the whole time. Wasted years. Wasted life.

She would never get her revenge on Johns.

-

**Absolution ****- **_**n: **__**1. **__The act of absolving or the state of being absolved._

_**2. **__The formal remission of sin imparted by a priest, as in the sacrament of penance.__Synonyms: Forgiveness, Pardon, Release, Freedom, Liberty._

Tracy had dinner with Imam and Jack and told them her story. "Johns killed my niece and nephew to try and lure some killer out. The only murderer I ever saw was him. They were so young, so full of life and he took that away for his own gain. For money. For the fucking bounty on someone's head!" Tracy winced, "Sorry Imam," she said because of her choice of words. She didn't want to offend the holy man. "That's why Riddick turned himself in," Jack whispered to no one in particular. "Cause Johns started to kill kids. He said he would do two more if he didn't surrender."

Tracy's eyes cut to Jacks. "This Riddick was the payday that he was after?" She felt her hands clench in rage. Perhaps she would get some form of justice after all. If she couldn't have her niece and nephews killer, then perhaps she could go after the one that caused it all. Riddick.

Jack looked at Imam and then nodded. Riddick had told them about why he turned himself in when they were stuck on the skiff, floating around in space with no idea if they would ever be picked up or if the skiff would crumble around them.

Imam watched a new look come into Tracy's eyes. "Don't think about it, Tracy. Riddick is not someone you want to tangle with. He is a dangerous man. He was framed and circumstances turned him into a killer but he's a killer just the same. Don't forget that. You go after him; he'll kill you without a moment's hesitation."

Did she really care? Her life was over as she knew it anyway. Nowhere to go and nothing to do. She was left floundering around, helpless and hopeless. The one man that was responsible for the slaughter of her family was already dead and burning in the fires of hell.

If Riddick had killed Johns, then perhaps Tracy should be grateful to him. On the same note, if it weren't for him, then Johns wouldn't have killed her family. A real catch 22, if she'd ever seen one.

Tracy sighed and rubbed her eyes. "What am I going to do now? For the last few years, life was all about finding Johns and killing him and now even that small pleasure had been taken away from me because of this Riddick. That's twice he's changed the course of my life and I've never even met him."

"You are better off not knowing him," Imam told her. Something in Jack's eyes flashed that made Tracy unsure of the truth of that statement. "You can stay here with us," Imam suggested. He could never turn away a lost soul. It was one of his blessings and one of his biggest downfalls.

"Imam," Jack hissed. She didn't want Tracy around. She didn't trust her and she was worried, if giving the chance, she would try to kill Riddick.

Or find him?

If Tracy went after Riddick, Jack would follow her and maybe she would finally see him again.

Jack missed him so much. He told her that he didn't want to see her again. That he didn't need some brat kid hanging on his leg, but Jack knew better. Riddick liked her; he just didn't know how to show it. One day, Jack planned on finding him again and then, he'd see. Riddick would want her like she wanted him. They'd be together, she'd be his woman.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Imam," Tracy said after she noted Jack's reaction, "but I thank you for the offer.""Stay for a few days, then. Just to rest and figure out what's next." He pleaded. He didn't like the idea of her out there alone, besides, Jack would benefit from a woman being in the house, no matter how much she protested it. There were some thing's a man couldn't do for his daughter. Some thing's she just wouldn't talk to him about. Maybe with Tracy there, Jack would start acting like the young woman she was and not some wannabe Riddick.

Tracy sighed with weariness, "Ok, just for a few days," she had nowhere else to go anyway.


	2. On The Run

**2 On the Run **

**Two years later**

It was three am when they heard the pounding on the door. Jack burst into Tracy's room, "Quick, get your shit together, they're here," 'They' had to be someone after Riddick. Jack had developed an innate sense of perception. She could smell a merc a mile away. If she said they were merc's, then that's exactly what they were. 

"Who is it, Jack?" Tracy asked as she jumped out of bed to dress and gather clothes and weapons. She and Jack always had a bag at the ready. They were sure it was just a matter of time before someone came looking for Riddick. Tonight was that night.

Tracy could hear Imam's quiet voice downstairs talking to a few men. She peaked down the steps to see what was going on and if she could help him.

Imam had always been adamant, if someone ever came looking for Riddick, Tracy was to take Jack and run. Not fight but ran, as fast and as far as they could.

"I do not know of a man by the name of Riddick." Imam told the intruders. There were four of them. The one speaking had dark hair and greyish eyes and he was a mess. He didn't seem to know if he wanted a beard or not and he was in dire need of a shower. The other three just looked skittish and weak. Sheep being led to the slaughter. Morons. 

"You're lying old man. I know you got that brat kid too. Riddick will come for her, don't you think? Oh, that's right. We know that little bitch was the one that passed herself off as a boy. Jack's her name. Once we have her, Riddick will come to save her."

Imam gave a sniff to that. "Riddick would never risk himself for anyone." 

Toombs slapped Imam across the check, "We know you were on that ship with him when it went down. Didn't think men of the cloth lied. Now, I'm gonna ask you this, One. More. Time. Where is that piece of shit Riddick?"

"I swear, Mr. Toombs, I do not know." Imam said as he trembled with fear. He wiped the blood from his lip and in that moment, realized how wrong he had been about Riddick. While the man was a murder, he wasn't evil. Not like Toombs was or how Johns had been. He lifted up a small prayer for forgiveness and for his lie.

"Fuckit, kill'em." Toombs said and the other three opened fire on Imam. Jack and Tracy watched, horrified, crouched at the top of the steps as their father was gunned down and fell dead to the floor.

Tracy eyes narrowed, she just found a new reason for living. To Kill Toombs. She grabbed Jack's hand and ran through her room and out the window. They scrambled up the fire escape and to the roof and ran across the buildings. The roofs were close enough to jump the distance. They could hear Toombs shouting at his men to fan out and find Jack but they just kept running.

They only needed to get to the spaceport two miles away. They had money, Imam had seen to that. Everything was in Tracy's name because of Jack's link to Riddick and because of the fact she was a minor. They never told Jack their plans, but they all knew that one day they would come looking for Riddick.

Tracy had found a small soft spot in her heart for Riddick, how could she now? She had never met him, but due Jack's and Imam's stories and the love Jack had for him, Tracy thought he couldn't have been that bad. Not like Johns or Toombs.

Jack had turned into Tracy's little sister, minus the blood. They even resembled each other. They may not have had a blood bond but that didn't matter. Jack looked up to Tracy and seemed too listen to her advice. Tracy wasn't sure how good of an influence she was, but she loved Jack and would protect her with her life. That was all that mattered in her book and apparently in Jack and Imam's too.

Imam noticed that just as he saw the way Jack had responded to Riddick but this was slightly different. Though Jack was young and she idolized Riddick, there was an undertone of a different type of interest. Jack loved Riddick and as she grew, even with Riddick absent, she started to fall _in_ love with Riddick, his memory at least.

Tracy and Jack made it to the spaceport in record time. "What do we do now?" Jack asked her green eyes huge with fear and grief.

"We run," Tracy said and pointed to a small spacecraft. "Stay here. Don't fuckin' leave this spot Jack or I swear to Imam's God I'll beat you with-in an inch of your life. You hear me?"

Jack nodded and had a strong feeling she was serious. Tracy never made a move to hit her but this was something different. She was now in control of their lives and she demanded obedience for their safety. Just like Riddick had.

Tracy, at twenty-four, was eight years older than Jack and in the last four years, two of them had been on the run. Tracy had been to the most seedy, nasty places looking for Johns. She had come face to face with the shit of humanity and survived to talk about it. Jack respected that and hoped that she could find the strength to be the same way. She planned on starting now.

Imam was gone and so was Riddick. There was no man to hide behind now. Only her and Tracy. They had to make their way and Jack had to stop being a scared teenager and face her demons and her fears. She squared her shoulders and fingered the shiv at her side. The one Riddick had given her. It made her feel stronger. It was time for Jack to grow up and face life.

-

Tracy approached the desk and the slightly dirty and very married man that worked there. "Excuse me," she said and tried not to wince when he eyed her with a sickening interest. 

"Well, hello baby. What can I do you for?" the man said and smiled. Tracy almost rolled her eyes and him. Please, how long had that line been going around? She had heard it more times that she could count.

"I need a ship. It doesn't have to be big, but I need it now and I need it fully loaded with fuel and some other provisions." Tracy said and then smiled at him, trying desperately to hide her repulsion and be sexy, "Do you have anything like that?" _Oh God, did I just bat my eyelashes at him? _

"We just might, depending on your choice of payment." He was leering at her body and it made her skin crawl.

Anything for Jack. Tracy gritted her teeth and shuddered inside, "I'm sure we can work something out," she looked at his name tag and purred, "Steve."

He grinned and Tracy wanted to throw up, actually tasted the bile in the back of her throat, but she would do anything to get her and Jack away from the merc Toombs and his men. Anything.

"How much will it cost me, Steve? I need this quick and I need it quiet." She lowered her voice and leaned in like she was telling him some dark secret, and she was but he was too stupid to know that. "Some men are going to be asking about me… I need discretion, it's very important. Do you think you can do that for me, Steve, or do I need to find someone else?" Tracy let her eyes roam over his body and pretended that he was some sexy hunk, her dream man. The image of a large caramel skin, bald man jumped into her mind's eye and she wondered where that came from? Must have been all the stories and talk about Riddick.

"I think we can work something out, baby." He told her as he ran a greasy finger down her arm.

Tracy smiled and died a little inside.

'Payment' consisted of a blowjob for the discretion and then anal sex and10,000 creds for the ship. Steve wasn't rough with her and he had used a condom but Tracy wanted to scrub her skin till it bled and throw up her socks for the next few years, maybe by then, the sick feeling she had would go away.

She never wanted to pimp herself out, never had too, but for Jack, she'd do anything, even fuck the devil himself if that's what it took to keep her safe. Imam knew that and that is why he trusted her to take care of Jack when he was gone.

When she finally found Jack, she was standing in the same spot she had left her, ghost white and covered in blood. There was a man dead at her feet and a shiv clutched in her hand. It was the shiv that Riddick had given her for her protection. 

"He tried to touch me," Jack said and looked at Tracy. "He was going to rape me. He worked with Tombs." Jack told her as some of the color crept back in, followed quickly by anger. 

"It's ok, baby. Come on. I got us a ship, come on, let's go." Tracy grabbed the girl by the arm, removed the shiv and tucked it away in her own pants. She didn't want Jack to get caught with it. If anyone had to go down for the murder, it would be Tracy.

They kept to the shadows as they ran to the no name, newly acquired ship. Tracy punched in the code to unlock the doors and went straight to the captions chair and strapped in.

Before Johns had slaughtered her family, she had been taking courses in piloting. The skill had come in very handy, even though she never got to become a commercial pilot like she had planned. The fact she could fly made her hunt for him easier and safer.

Jack strapped herself in as Tracy punched in the launch sequence. Thirty seconds later, after a quick sys check, they were airborne.

No more than an hour and a half had passed since the death of Imam and their previous life. Jack was now a murderer and Tracy felt like a whore and the day, for most, hadn't even started yet.

Tracy had a sinking feeling they would link the death of that man to Jack. She had caught a glimpse of him and was sure it was one of Toombs's crew. That much Tracy was grateful for. But Imam had come up dead and now Jack would go missing. She just hoped that they didn't think that Jack had murdered Imam and took off.

It was no secret that Jack had been a troubled girl that got into trouble in school. Fighting, disrespect and general antisocial behavior. Tracy and Imam had tried to work her through it and she had been getting better but this new turn of events would most likely change that.

Tracy suddenly felt sixty years old.

"Go shower, Jack."

Jack turned and looked at her, wide eyed and bloody, "What are we going to do now?" 

"We're going to be fine, Jack. Imam and I had this all planned out," Of course they had planned on purchasing a small ship before anything actually happened. They were going to look next week, once Jack started school again for the year.

Yes, with Imam dead and Jack missing, they would tie that murder to her in no time and that meant they had to change plans and go into hiding. They never expected Jack to end up with a bounty on her head.

"Are we going to find Riddick?" Jack asked quietly and hopeful at the same time.

"I don't know where to look, Jack. I have no idea where he is. He's never contacted Imam. He would have told me." 

Jack looked defeated when she finally got up to shower.

While Jack showered, Tracy searched for prospective new homes. They had to find a place that was a little bit seedy, but not so much that they wouldn't be safe in their own home. And they needed a new name for Jack.

Tracy contacted a man she knew from her time chasing Johns and had told him she needed new ID's and a new name for Jack.

"Jack, pick a new name for yourself. We need to change your name." she called into the back of the ship. There wasn't much to it, more of a skiff than a ship, but they did have a small bathroom with a shower and toilet. Little else.

Jack came out of the shower, free of blood but not of the stench of fear. She knew she was in big trouble. She had murdered someone, albeit in self defense, but she still took a life. Her first life. Would it get easier now? Like it had with Riddick? _Kill or be killed, Kid._ He'd always say to her, well, now she knew what she would do. Kill. It just proved to her they were one in the same. Destined to be together in her mind.

"Kyra. I want to be Kyra." Jack finally said after a belief hesitation. She had gone to school with a Kyra and she liked the name and thought it would sound nice when Riddick purred it like he had a way of doing. She suppressed a shiver at the thought of it.

Tracy just nodded and sent the info on to her friend. She had located a place they could hide for a while and entered in the coordinates. Tracy had been there once before for a short stay.

"We're going to have to cryo, Kyra," she used Jack's new name to try to get use to it. "It'll take a few weeks till we land and we just don't have enough supplies or space to stay awake that long. Kyra only nodded. She hated cryo but knew they didn't have much choice. 

"I'll put you under, shower and then do myself." Kyra nodded again and sat down with a sigh. "Listen, everything is going to be ok. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, ok?" Tracy told Kyra, forcing her to look at her.

-

They landed on Jonas Three, two weeks later. Tracy had woken up a few days earlier than Jack to check and make sure they weren't being followed. She also found a small two bedroom apartment and rented that and had it stocked with food and everything else set up for when they landed.

Tracy decided to sell the heap they were on now and invest in something bigger, faster and more advanced in case they needed to make a run for it again. It would be theirs and she might even show Kyra how to pilot. After all the important details were seen too, Tracy enrolled Kyra in school to try to make life as normal as possible.

Jonas Three was a dump; there were no two ways about it. It was dark, seedy and dangerous. There were only a few hours of the day that a female could somewhat safely go outside alone. There were very few laws and even less lawmen but they had a whole lot of retired mercs and criminals.

Most people minded their own business but some were always looking to make a quick buck at the expense of someone else. It didn't matter if it was their life or their money, as long as they got something out of it in the end.

Tracy and Kyra quickly learned where to go and when to be back. Kyra switched her courses to online classes. Safer and cheaper and also she could take more of them at a time and finish school early. Tracy had promised Imam that she would make sure Jack got her full education and she only had one more year to go. They condensed that down into basic math, science and language courses. Imam tried to hold out for college, but Tracy wasn't pushing her luck with that one. Just getting Jack through high school had been a chore she didn't feel the need to repeat any time soon.

After they were settled in, they got a dog. Well, the dog kind of found them. He was a big black German Shepherd and was ornery as hell and not very nice most of the time. Kyra loved him instantly and he took to Kyra right away and they soon became inseparable. Tracy laughed and said he was her protector, like Riddick had been and that was what Kyra decided to name him.

"His eyes even glow like Riddick's." Kyra said once when she was laying on the couch, the dog laying on top of her legs. He picked up his head and cocked it to the side. They both laughed. There were times that Tracy felt that the dog was too smart, almost human like and it was unnerving but if he kept Kyra safe, then Tracy was all for him.

To kill time, they found a large map of the four surrounding solar systems. They decided to play _Where is Riddick_. Every time they came across a report or a sighting, they would mark it with a pin and tried to predict his next move.

He had changed his name but Kyra made it her life's work to study his patterns. They finally found the name of his ship, _Brown Recluse_ and tracked his lift offs and landings and how long in-between. He never stayed long at one place, a week or two at the most. More times than not, they were wrong, but every once and a while Kyra would nail him down.

-

**One Year Later**

Over the next year, in their spare time, they researched other planets and were trying to find a friendlier place to settle down. They planned getting settled and contacting Riddick and try to talk him into coming there with them. They found a place called Luna Minor in the Gamma system. It was a very small place, not a very dense population but it was rich in resources and they would be able to get whatever they would want.

While not actually a moon, it wasn't actually a planet either. It was more of a mix. The atmosphere was stable and it had rain and bodies of water but the vegetation and wild life was on the smaller side, no large tree's or animals.

It also had only a few hours of light during the day, year round. It never changed. Most people couldn't take the extended darkness and would flee before they lost their mind in the world of darkness. It would be perfect for Riddick. Kyra and Tracy were used to living by only a few hours of light a day that was safe for them to move around, so it would be no big hardship for them.

Tracy had purchased a property and had set up their accounts and everything else they would require. Imam had a life insurance policy on himself and that automatically was deposited in an account for them.

It was a hefty sum, one million credits. She could almost see the salesman's face when Imam asked for such a large payout. He was truly puzzled. What would a man of God need with so much money? Imam explained that he had a daughter to think about. Tracy chuckled at the memory. The sales man was less than pacified but sold Imam the policy because of the commission he would reap. Sadly, a year and a half later, that was the only thing left for Imam to give to his daughter.

They had hid out there for almost a year and everything seemed to have blown over. No one had come looking for them and no one asked any questions about them. Kyra had graduated and they were set to leave Jonas Three for good in a matter of weeks. They were both excited and on edge. It seemed that everything was coming together perfect but Tracy and Kyra had always had a problem with things going smoothly for them. It just never did.

Their fears were confirmed one day when Tracy was playing _Where is Riddick_ and hacked into the main database that the bounty hunters used. Every possible sighting of Riddick was in there. It didn't matter if it was real or just some large, bald man wearing black. The mercs were hot on finding him, but they just couldn't seem to catch him. They didn't know the way his brain worked, not like Kyra did.

There she found an old picture of Jack, the skinny, short haired little 'boy' with a price on his head for helping a known criminal escape and also a school picture of a slightly older 'girl' for the murder of a bounty hunter and her father four years later. There was also a charge of insurance fraud but Tracy had transferred the funds and they had no way of tracking them or retrieving them.

"Fuck me!" Tracy said when she saw the report. The surge of anger was fierce. How could anyone think Jack would do something like that?

Kyra, on the tail end of seventeen, she still bore a striking resemblance to 'Jack'. Tracy knew that if anyone had seen the photo they would recognize her and turn her in. While they had 'friends' on Jonas Three, people would still fuck you over for a few bucks. In this case, nine hundred K.

They described the murder and how closely the cuts resembled that of one Richard B. Riddick, the same man she helped evade the law, and they were sure she was in partnership with him, perhaps even his lover. The report said that Jack had killed Imam to collect the insurance money so she could run away with her much older and highly dangerous lover. Richard B. Riddick. _What the fuck, she was only thirteen fucking years old last time she saw him; only a sick fuck touches a kid that age._

The report of Imam's murder was greatly altered. It said that he was cut down with a blade in the back. A quick and easy, if not bloody kill. One that Riddick favored. The sweet spot, it had been dubbed.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit!" The alert was a few months old; it would have taken some time for others to figure out who Kyra was and to get organized to take her down. Tracy didn't know why it had taken so long for the alert to be put out, but it was out now and that was all that mattered. Though most here kept to themselves, they were always out to make some quick money and that kind of money would draw a lot of attention and tempt a lot of mercs out of retirement.

Tracy called the spaceport and told them to ready her ship, fuel, water and enough food for two months for two people and a dog. Anything else they could pick up here or there, it was time to move their little trip up a few weeks. Tracy had a bad feeling; something was going to go down soon.

She ran around the house, packing what she thought they would need. She ripped the maps off the wall and tried to erase any tangible proof of who had lived there and who they knew. They would leave as soon as Kyra got back. Tracy didn't want to take the chance of running into any merc's and blowing Kyra's cover.

After she had everything ready, it was getting dark and Kyra wasn't home yet. She had Riddick the dog with her so she hoped she was alright. If she didn't show soon, Tracy would have to go and look for her and she_ really_ didn't like to go out at night. Given no other choice, Tracy armed herself with a few shivs and a couple 9 mm's and then looking for her.


	3. Making Contact

**PART 3**

Kyra was making her way home as the night started to fall. She picked up her pace and silently chastised herself for letting time slip by. She should know better than that. She had Riddick with her, but she wanted get home and fast. She was over at her only friend's house trying to pretend nothing was different but she knew it would be the last time they saw each other.

Kyra was tempted to break out in a run but she didn't want to draw any more attention to herself. If you show fear, then you appear weak, if you're weak, then you're a target. Kill or be killed, survival of the fittest and all that shit. _Shit, I'm so fucked_. Riddick was on full alert; she was almost there, just a few more blocks.

_Why and I seeing stars?_ She wondered absently a second before a blinding pain shot through her head. _Fuck_She hit the ground hard and heard Riddick's growl and bark. He got a hold of at least one person, she could tell by his snarling, and then she heard his cry of pain.

"Nooo!" She cried and tried to see him, to see if he was ok. There were three merc's surrounding her with guns pointed at her head, she recognized one and tasted the bile in the back of her throat at the sight of him.

"Hello, there sweet cheeks. Thought you lost me didn't you? You and that bitch you're traveling with. Don't try to deny it; I know you're traveling with someone. I don't know what her story is, but I'll find out who she is when I'm done with you.

"You killed one of my men, no great loss but the way I see it, you owe me _big time_. That little payday on your head is going to help my retirement real nice." Toombs told her before he licked the side of her face.

"What payday you piece of shit?" Kyra shot back. She refused to go down without a fight. She didn't know of any price on her head. They checked every few months and over the last year there had been nothing.

"The one that I had sworn out on you. Oh yeah, you grew up nice, no more pretending to be a boy for you. Took me a year to finally find you. Jonas Three, what a shit hole. Perfect place for a little whore like yourself. Can't believe it took me this long to think of it." Toombs mused aloud.

"I see the big man never came back for you. Too bad really, would have been nice to cash in on his ass too. But nine hundred K isn't bad. Guess where your merc killin' ass is going, Crematoria. You're in the big leagues now sweetheart and what I'm gonna do to you will be merciful to what you got coming there."

Tracy heard Riddick's snarl and felt her blood run cold. This can't be happening, not already. Kyra! She ran and stopped short at the sight a block away. Kyra was on the ground, her hands cuffed behind her as a big, dark haired man had his knee in her back. Toombs.

_"…Guess where your__merc killin' ass is going, Crematoria.__ You'__re in the big leagues now sweet__heart and what I've done to you will be merciful to what you got coming." _

Kyra seemed to sense her and looked in her directions. Tracy could easily read her face, _Find him. He's the only one that can get me out of this. _It seemed to say.

Tracy nodded and ducked behind the building before they saw her. She knew she couldn't do anything to help Kyra. It was three to one and they were huge and heavily armed.

_Crematoria, shit girl, you know how to get your ass in trouble don't you. It'll take'em three weeks to get there. Riddick's closer or at least I think he is. _She could hear Riddick the dog growling and willed him to shut up. She knew if he made one more try for them, they would kill him for sure and that would break Kyra's heart and cause her to fight back and that might just get her killed. Even with almost a mil bounty.

The dog wasn't in any shape to walk, let alone attack but he would try anything to save his Kyra. Tracy heard the voices drift off and the sudden strained silence that fell along with the night. Everyone was in their homes, minding their own business, pretending that nothing was going on outside. Curtin's drawn and doors locked. They wouldn't risk their neck for another person. Not here, they'd most likely end up in shackles right beside her.

The only sound she could hear now was Riddick's labored breathing. She peeked around the building and saw it was all clear. Tracy ran over to him and assessed his conduction. He had a nasty cut all along his side where he got shived. He was bleeding and in pain and ready to snap her arm off if she moved the wrong way.

"Easy boy. We'll get her back and she'll want you there. Let's get you cleaned up." Tracy somehow managed to help lift him to his feet, though she's not sure how. He was massive, well over one hundred pounds, closer to a buck fifty. They made their way home as fast as they possibly could with him injured.

Tracy quickly bandaged him up and called the spaceport as she worked. "I need to know how to get in touch with a ship in another system."

"Well, first you have to make a video. Then we send it over our communication lines." The moron on the line told her.

"How long will it take?"

"Well… it depends on how far. It can take up to a week."_Fuck! We don't have a week._ "What about just a typed message? No video? Is that any faster?"

"Well, yes. Being there is no vid, we can just kinda buzz it along, usually gets there in an hour or two.""Can it go straight to the ship or does it have to go through a dispatch?" Tracy didn't want anyone else to see her message. It was for Riddick's eyes only.

"Depends on if the ship is there or not."

"Can you check for me?" She heard a deep sigh. _Fuck buddy, I'm __making you do your job. What a bitch._ She sneered to herself.

"What's the name of the system and the ship?" the man asked with an aspirated sigh.

She bit down her annoyance and answered him through clenched teeth. "_Brown Recluse_ and it is in the Avalon system."

"Looks like ETA is 3 hours. Want to send a message or what?"

"Yeah, I'll be by in a half hour, and have my ship ready.""Can't wait." He drawled.

_Asshole. _She thought as she hung up the phone. Tracy needed to think. Ok, she needed to come up with a way to tell Riddick what the problem was without blowing his cover. He was going by the name Tim Johnson, like that was believable.

Please, everyone pretty much knew he was Riddick but no one had the balls to say so aloud and have their throat slit. So they just let it go and played along. It would take someone with some major stones to blow Riddick's cover, or perhaps a death wish.

_Brown Recluse_

_Check Merc's recent scores_

_Contact me in two hours_

_Bird-of-Paradise _

_Code: __54683AT19Q3_

"Shit Riddick, I don't know what to say to him. He isn't going to trust me, has no fucking idea who I am. I have a feeling I'm going to end up with a price on my head when this is all over. Shit! This _really_ sucks." Tracy finished gathering all their stuff; for girls they traveled light, easier to cut fence and run when necessary. It was the dog that posed the problem, not like he could use the toilet, gurr. _Men, more trouble than their worth._

She and Riddick the dog made it to the _Bird-of-Paradise_ thirty minutes later and settled in. She requested lift off and had the dispatch forward her message to Riddick's ship. She couldn't just send it to him herself, she didn't have his code so she had to have that lackey do it and hope he didn't fuck it up.

-

**Aboard the Brown Recluse**

Riddick sat back in his chair and rubbed his aching eyes. He was tired and sick of running. Almost eight fucking years straight he'd been at it, the only break was T2 and oh what fucking fun that was. Well there was the short time after in New Mecca with Imam and Jack.

_Jack_. _Almost eighteen now Jack, wonder how you're doing? Bet you're all grown up now, probably got yourself some fuck of a boyfriend. Better not touch you; I'll slice his fuckin' throat. _

_ What they hell you talking about Riddick. You got no say in what she does, she ain't yours. _

_The fuck she ain't. _

_Right asshole, you haven't seen her in five years, she's forgotten all about your piece of shit ass. _

For the last few years, he'd been hopping from planet to planet and system to system, just enough time for a quick fuck and some real food and supplies. Other than that, he'd been stuck in this fucking ship, going nowhere, running out of money, out of time and out of patience. He was sick to death of the fucking merc's and if he really wanted to piss himself off, he'd admit that he was getting lonely.

He missed Jack and the peace she brought him. At the age of thirteen she saw him as no one else ever has. She saw him as a man and not a monster and for that he would always be grateful. How did he repay her? He left her the first chance he got even though he knew it would crush her. Richard B. Riddick was not a homebody. He wasn't some guy to sit back and play house. Get a real job? He shivered at the mere thought.

Still, every once in a while, if he was having a weak moment, he would try to look her up, but he never found anything and he never contacted Imam since about two weeks after he had left.

He wanted to see how she was doing. Imam told him in no uncertain terms how she was, and it wasn't pretty. The holy man didn't need to curse or use crude language; he could give you a good tongue lashing without them and make you feel like complete and total shit.

Very few people, if any, had ever been able to make Riddick feel that way and he hated it. Imam told him not to bother coming back and that Jack was better off without him and when she realized that, she would have a chance at a real life. Riddick agreed totally with him, it was one of the reasons he left. But he still wondered what if…

_He could almost see her, the green of her eyes, the cute little smile she had, which would be sexy as hell now. She'd be all lean muscle and creamy skin. Plump lips begging to be kissed, he could almost taste her. She'd be ripe and ready for him to take her, finally to give her what she had wanted from him all along. _Yeah, he knew it, knew she always had a thing for him. Couldn't imagine why, but who was he to complain?He was, after all, a man. _Her voice, calling his name, her small hands stroking his skin like they did when he let her touch him, just a few times, no more, he couldn't handle any more. Fuck, I need to get laid! _

Riddick was pulled from his thought at the sound of the alarm and the spaceport telling him which dock to land.

"_Brown Recluse_, you are clear to land at A7. Welcome to Melusine. Also Mr. Johnson, there is a message for you. I'll send it to your ship as soon as you touch down."

"Message? What the fuck?" Riddick mumbled to himself, who the fuck would be trying to get a hold of him. As soon as he touched down, the message appeared on his com screen.

_Brown Recluse_

_Check Merc's recent scores_

_Contact me in two hours_

_Bird-of-Paradise _

_Code: __54683AT19Q3_

Riddick quickly hacked into the Merc's site and felt his heart stop. Jack? He dialed up the code for the _Bird-of-Paradise_ and paced while he waited for the link to go through. A few minutes later a woman's face popped up on the screen. _ What the fuck?_

"Who the fuck are you?" he growled.

"My name is…"

"Where the fuck is Jack?" he roared.

"She's…"

"I'm gonna fuckin kill you for this.""For what exactly, Riddick?" He cocked his head to the side, "Yeah, I know who you are."

"Shut up!" he barked at her.

"So what are you going to kill me for again, Riddick?" Tracy probed him. He wasn't at all what Jack had made him to be. He was a fuckin' flaming dick.

"For turning Jack in."

Riddick was seething. This bitch had the balls to turn Jack in and then show him her face? She was one stupid cunt if she thought she could get away with this. He'd take a great amount of pleasure in killing her. He might even fuck her first, she was kinda cute, in a you-must-be-the-stupidest-woman-alive kinda way. "See, that's where you're wrong, _again,_ Riddick, I didn't turn her in, I'm trying to help her."

"The fuck you are!"

Tracy was trying desperately to remain calm but his attitude was really starting to grate on her nerves. How in the hell did Kyra put up with him? "How the fuck would you know asshole? Why don't you shut the fuck up and let me talk?"

"Listen to me you fucking bitch…" _Bitch got so some ball__ there_Riddick thought. He had to give her props; most people would have wet themselves by now."Jack's being taken to Crematoria.""For what?"

"Did you read the bounty on her? A combination of helping you and fucking protecting herself. Murder, fraud."

"Jack would never kill Imam and what the fuck do you know about it?"

"That your favorite word?" Tracy nettled him. She couldn't help it.

"Fuck you.""Guess so. Anyway, I know all about it, Riddick. I was there when Imam was killed.""Who the fuck are you?" He asked her again, quickly running out of patience.

"I'm her sister." Tracy told him simply. "She doesn't have a sister.""You sure about that?""Yeah. I know everything about Jack, she never had a sister."

"Kyra does.""Who the fuck is Kyra?" Riddick roared he was beyond pissed off now. He had no idea what this bitch was up too but he was going to kill her, soon. "She is. Kyra is what she goes by now, since I changed her name about a year ago. Kyra Martin. She's pretty much like a sister to me and the only family I have left.""Why the fuck did she change her name?""Holy shit, Riddick, she said you were smart. Did you fucking READ the report? She's wanted for murder.""She never killed anyone."Tracy scoffed, "Right, how you would know again?" She sneered condescendingly at him. This Riddick was so sure of himself. So sure he knew all about Jack. Well, he didn't know jack.

"Whatch your tone woman." He warned and Tracy just rolled her eyes.

"What are you going to do, kill me? I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be, I'll fuckin' cut you up." He warned her as he pulled his shiv and pointed to the screen.

_Is that supposed to scare me?_ Tracy wondered, "Wouldn't be the first time, I've faced far worse than you."

"No one's worse than me.""Oh, I don't know about that. I got two names for you… Johns and Toombs."

"Johns is dead the fuck, so's Toombs, the fuck!""Yeah, want to thank you for ghosting Johns for me. Of course because of you my entire family was murdered, but hey, I'm over it." Tracy replied with a false sweet voice.

"What kind of shit are you trying to pull here?"

"Remember those two kids Johns popped? They were my niece and nephew. He also killed my sister and her husband while he was there. Did you know that? My whole family was wiped out because of you." Tracy saw the look of rage and disgust that crossed his face for a brief second before he regained his blank mask.

"What happened to Imam?" He asked.

"He's gone, Riddick. Toombs killed him," she heard Riddick curse and kick something hard; "They shot him in front of us while they were trying to flush your fuckin' ass out. Someone covered it up to make it look like Kyra did it, so she could collect the money and run away with her lover, one Richard B Riddick. Toombs figured that Imam or Jack knew were you were. They didn't know I was there. Jack and I took off out the window and ran."

"Where?"

"We have been living on Jonas Three"

"Place is a shit hole, why were you living there?""Well because we had a mercs after us, her mostly."

"You should have called me, I would have…" he accused.

"Oh yeah right, they were looking for you, remember. Besides, it isn't like we knew how to get a hold of you. What would you have done anyway? You left her remember?""I left to keep her safe.""That went well don't you think?" Tracy shot back at him.

"Listen I don't need this fucking shit from you. I'll go after Jack and kill the fuckin merc Toombs once and for all the piece of shit, thought he was dead too."

Riddick slumped back in his chair now, how the hell had everything gone so wrong? He was trying to protect her. She was the only thing he had ever cared about. Now because of him, she was heading straight to hell.

Tracy took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Listen, Riddick, I know you didn't mean for any of this to happen. I know you left to keep her safe because you care. I heard it in her voice when she spoke of you; she never blamed you for any of this. You mean the world to her and she expects you to come and get her out.

"Once you do, she and I have set up a new place to live. We were going to contact you about it shortly to see if you wanted to join us."He looked back at her though the screen, "Can't settle down, she knows that.""This place is different, Riddick. Eighteen hours a day of moonlight, small population. It's perfect. I already got us a house there. Once you get her out, we will go there and start over.""And what? We just gonna live happily ever after?"

"God willing."

"God hates me and the feelings mutual."

Tracy sighed. She knew it was no use talking to him about this. Maybe Kyra could talk him into seeing reason but she doubted it. "Meet me in Glastonbury in two days. We will hook up there. I'll pretend I'm a merc that bagged you, take you to Crematoria and wait in the hangar till you get her, and then we'll get the fuck off that rock."

"You're fucking kidding me right? You a merc?" he laughed at her. She was unbelievable. "Don't you know Riddick, I'm Johns long lost daughter taking his place in the business, even got the ID to prove it. I'm just taking down the piece of shit that killed my dad.""You're serious? How could a little thing like you take _me_ down?" He laughed at her.

"Women have their ways." "Sorry sweetheart, I'm no fool for a bitch in a skirt."

"Well how about while I was fucking your brains out, I tranked you and chained you up while you were out? If we're lucky, maybe we could beat them there and she won't have to go into that hell hole. There's no other way."

"Who do you think you're talking too? No one is going to believe that shit."

"Got a better idea?""Yeah, I fly in and get her alone."

"They'll see you coming, Riddick, and know what it's all about. Just meet me, I'm tired, and I still have to patch up Riddick again before he gets an infection.""Riddick?"

"Yeah, the freaking dog, Riddick. Big, black, vicious, stubborn, and looking at me right now with his freaky glowing eyes like he's gonna rip my throat out cause I'm talking about him.""Sounds like someone else I know."

"That's what she said. Two days Riddick. I'll be waiting." With that she broke off communications. _Shit! Kyra was right, he's fucking hot!_ _Got the personali__ty of a pissed off rattler though. How did she see him as a teddy bear? _ She glanced down at the dog and smiled, _yeah I know, once you get to know him…_"Come on boy; let's get you a new bandage and some pain meds." Tracy set the auto pilot and went to catch some sleep. She knew the next few weeks were going to be very trying.

"FUCK!" Riddick yelled out loud. He was overwhelmed by the searing rage he felt. Never in his life has he been so pissed off that his vision was clouded. He may not be able to make out all the colors, especially the light ones, but his vision was always crystal clear, but now, he couldn't focus on anything. _You should have left her on the fucking rock Riddick. You don't need this shit, once you get there, they are gonna be all over your ass. Fuck Jack, what did you do? Always did have a knack for getting into trouble. _Sighing deeply Riddick set course for Glastonbury against his better judgment. _Should just go to Crematoria now and fuck that bitch, don't need her help. She'll do nothing but slow me down._

-

"Dickhead better not stand me up or I swear to god I'll kill him myself." Tracy spoke to Riddick the dog. "Oh don't look at me like that. You know what I'm talking about. You're just like him. Damn it, what am I going to do? What if he doesn't show up, Riddick? Kyra expects help from him. He'll go, I know that, but I don't want him going off half cocked. Yeah, yeah, I know. He's kept himself alive this long without me, but this is Kyra's life we are talking about. And why the fuck am I talking to a dog?" The dog just sighed and lay down and went to sleep. _Typical m__en_


	4. Glastonbury

**4 Glastonbury-two days later**

Tracy arrived and looked for _Brown Recluse_. She didn't see any sign of the ship or of Riddick. She called the tower _again_, for like the fifth time to see if he had requested landing yet. Nothing. "I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna kill him!" Losing her patience, she disembarked and went to look for herself, again, nothing.

Night was falling and she was tired and pissed off. Tracy couldn't believe he stood her up, well she actually could but really hoped he would prove her wrong. She climbed aboard her ship and set the security code and alarm. She walked into the galley to grab a drink and screamed.

"What the fuck!?"

"Came looking for you, you were gone." Riddick's deep rumble came from the darkened corner of the room. 

"Yeah, I was out looking for your ass." Tracy snipped at him. She looked down at the dog that was resting at Riddick's feet. "Some kind of fucking guard dog you are, you'll just let anyone in."

"He's a good dog; he and I have a… understanding." Riddick said with a bit of a half smirk.

"What did you do, stare him down?" He just looked at her with his black goggles on and she knew he had. _What have you gotten me into, Kyra?_ "So where the hell is your ship? I've been out looking for you for hours and the tower said you never landed."

"Well, I sold her."

"What?"

"Yep, figured yours is bigger and faster so I might as well just get rid of mine, that way I don't have to pay storage or any other fucking shit like that. Besides, I don't plan on coming back this way. I had all of my supplies transferred over so were ready to go whenever."

Tracy blinked a few times to squelch the rage that was starting to grow inside of her. He had some audacity, she'd give him that. She could see the wisdom in his plan but it set her teeth on edge that he just went ahead and did it. He took away her control. 

"Fine, we'll leave in the morning. I'm tired and I want to sleep." She told him as she started to brush past him toward the back of the ship.

"I can pilot you know."

"Yeah, I know but let's just take the night off, come up with a plan,"

"We got two weeks for that."

"Fine! I just want to fucking sleep! Is that ok with you?" Tracy yelled. She was so fucking tired she couldn't think straight. She had to catch a few hours or she would be useless.

"We probably shouldn't take the dog. Ships not big enough for all of us. Guess we could put him in cryo, but he's hurt and he should get some rest." Riddick muttered as he stroked the dog's massive head.

"What should we do with him? He's Kyra's. She'll be worried about him." Tracy watched as Riddick's large hands stroked the dog. She had to suppress a shiver as an image of Riddick's hands on her popped into her brain. It was as if she could feel them on her body.

"I got a friend on planet. He's gonna keep him."

Tracy looked at him and realized that Riddick would never hurt an animal. She nodded and as if on cue, there was a call from outside.

Riddick got up and went over to the hatch and opened it. A big, dark skinned man stood there, holding an empty leash in one hand and a large female Shephard in the other. Riddick and the man exchanged a few words and Tracy was about to tell the man that the dog had never been on a leash before when he went over and sat and waited till he put a collar and then the leash on him.

It was sad to see him go, but she knew it was the best thing and Riddick the dog looked like he would be well cared for and have himself a bitch to play with.

Only after Riddick walked back to her did she realized she hadn't moved. She had been content on watching his hands, and truth be told, his ass. Tracy blinked and looked at him.

"You hungry?" She just looked at him like he grew an extra head. "What, I made something to eat, there's some left over if you want."

"How long have you been here?" He smirked.

He knew she was uncomfortable with him being alone with her stuff, suspecting he was snooping. He was, but he would never admit it. Only way to get to really know someone was to look through their shit.

"I'm going to bed." She muttered when she decided she was too tried to be anger at him for snooping.

Tracy walked down the hall to her cabin and shut the door in his face. He leaned against the wall, just outside and waited. He knew what was coming and couldn't help but chuckle to himself. "Richard B. Riddick, get you fucking ass in here and get your shit out of my room! NOW!"

"What? This one's got the bigger bed; I should get it." He pleaded his case. He was taller after all. 

"Yeah, that's why it's my room, my ship, my bed."

"I'm the guest, I ain't moving my shit."

"Fine." She told him as she started to gather his stuff up and throw it out in the hall. He just raised his eyebrow at her and picked it up and calmly put it back away.

"What the fuck are you doing?" She shrieked at him.

"Picking up your mess."

"My mess? It's your shit." She railed. 

"Yeah, but you're the one throwing it all over the place."

His calm tone set her off. "Listen here you asshole, I'm not leaving my room!"

"Fine, looks like we're sharing then 'cause I ain't leaving either." They just stared at each other, neither one willing to give. They were establishing the rules of the game and setting up boundaries and neither one was willing to back down.

"Looks that way then. Just remember I sleep naked. Lights out." She said as she began stripping off her clothes hoping that he would take the hint and leave.

"You do realize that I can see in the dark." She turned at looked at him, seeing his eyes without the goggles for the first time.

Tracy gasped, "Where the hell can I get eyes like that?" He just smirked. Kyra had told her about his eyes, but they were hard to imagine until you saw then in person. They were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"Got to kill a few people." He told her mildly.

"We're on our way to do that."

"Then you got to get sent to a slam where they tell you you'll never see daylight again."

"We're heading there now," she muttered and willed herself to look away from him. _Kyra, remember Kyra. This is the man she's loved for years._ "So you plan on standing there all night or are you going to go to bed?"

"I'm enjoying the show. Been a long time since I saw a naked woman."

"Yeah right." She snorted in disbelief. 

"Whores don't count." She just grunted at him and remembered the time she sold herself a little over a year ago, for Kyra.

_Fine then, you want to play? Let's play._ Tracy removed the rest of the clothes and crawled into bed, turning her back to him and covering herself up with the thick quilt.

She felt the bed dip and she tensed, "I thought you were going to bed."

"I am."

"The _other_ bed!"

"I told you sister, I ain't sleeping there." Riddick leaned close to her ear and dropped his voice to his seductive whisper, "I sleep naked too."

Tracy felt her heart jump at his words and his hot breath on her cheek, "Fine, stay on your own side." _Fuck!_ Her heart was pounding. She had never shared a bed before with a man. She never had time for lovers. Her life was all about revenge and then she was at Imam's. Taking a man to bed under his roof would have been a slap in the face. Then there was protecting Kyra.

_What the fuck am I doing? Just keep your hands to yourself, Tracy. He's Kyra's. Fuck, I have to get out of here. I can't sleep with him. She's my best friend; she's in love with him. _Tracy heard him sigh as he settled in behind her, on his own side of the bed.

_Wonder what he looks like naked. No fair he got to see me and I got nothing. _

_Shit! Stop thinking like that woman. Just get those thoughts out of your head right now. Not mine, not mine, not mine… _Tracy chanted to herself as she quickly drifted off to sleep, feeling safe for the first time in six years.

Riddick laid there as her scent filled his head. She wasn't aroused, but had a clean feminine scent with a hint of coconuts. _Get your mind out of the gutter Riddick. What the hell are you doing here? You don't even know this woman. Why the mind fuck already. She's Jack's, no, Kyra's friend. You shouldn't be doing this. Move to the other bed. _ He tried as hard as he could but he couldn't bring himself to get up. He turned and looked at the line of her back and felt his cock twitch. _No, stay down buddy. We are _so_ not going there. _Still he found himself looking at a small scar on her back as he drifted off to sleep. His last thought was how he would love to kill Johns all over again for what he did to her family.

Tracy woke up with a start and found herself wrapped around Riddick's much larger, muscular frame. She jumped up and tried to untangle herself but he was holding on to her. She couldn't see, it was still pitch black and when she tried to crawl over him she ended up on the floor in a tangle of covers. She heard him laugh at her and she whipped him off. She knew he could see it, and it only made him laugh harder.

"Asshole." She said trying to hard not to laugh herself as she wrapped the quilt around to cover herself. "Lights low slowly." As the lights came on, she noticed he was completely uncovered and made no move to change the fact. She couldn't look away from his body. He had perfectly ripped muscles everywhere and his skin bronze skin everywhere and in stark contrast to the crisp white of the sheets. "Beautiful." She whispered, shook her head, and pulled her gaze away from his god like frame. "You gonna cover that thing up?"

"What thing?"

She turned away and flittered her arm behind her as she was searching in the drawers, "You."

"Got nothing to be ashamed of, why hide?"

_Fucking right you got nothing to be ashamed of; you're built like a god, hung like one too._

"I'm going to take a shower." She muttered absently as she left the room.

Tracy stepped into the cool water and sighed. She had paid tons extra credits for a real bathroom. She scarified storage space and bedroom space to have a bathroom large enough for a tub and it was well worth the money. There was nothing she loved more than soaking in a hot bath when she as drifting in the deep cold space, but right now, she needed a shower, a nice cool shower to get the picture of a naked Riddick out of her mind. _It's going to be a long two weeks. Kyra… _Just the thought of what she was going through saddened Tracy and snapped her out of the cloud of lust that seemed to have formed around her. Kyra was at the hands of fucking mercs, doing god knew what to her and here she was sleeping naked next to Riddick. _FUCK!_

She didn't want to find Riddick attractive, but how could she not? He was a perfect male specimen. Strong, primal and he smelled so fine she wanted to take a bite of him.

-

**On board Toombs ship**

"Wakey wakey sweetcheeks, time for breakfast." Breakfast consisted of cold and tasteless cellulose and water. She would rather go hungry but she knew she needed to keep up her strength. Riddick would come and get her out and she needed to be strong. 

"Fuck you Toombs." Kyra said sweetly. 

"That could be arranged if you like." Kyra clenched her fists and her mouth shut. She would never let that vile man touch her, even if it meant taking her own life. "Looks like we're about two weeks out, gonna be a lot of long cold nights, perhaps if you're good, I'll let you warm my bed; chained up of course." He said cupping himself, "Yeah just might have to take a ride on that tight little ass of yours."

"I'd rather die."

"You will, soon enough. Once I get my bounty, I don't give a shit what happens to you. Bet you'll die quick in prison, or maybe not. Maybe someone will make you their bitch and fuck you real good. You know them inmates are so used to fuckin men, I bet they won't even know what hole to use." She just glared at him as he laughed like he was the funniest man alive. _Pig!_

He closed and locked the door behind him and Kyra sighed with relief. As long as she was kept locked up alone she was fine. She knew Tracy would find Riddick; it was only a matter of staying alive and untouched. She couldn't wait till Riddick got a hold of Toombs. Just the thought of what he would do to him made her smile. Riddick could be one sick bastard when he wanted to be and at times took great pleasure in cutting someone up. Of course they always deserve it.

She wondered how Tracy and Riddick were getting along. She couldn't even imagine. Riddick with his over inflated ego and her with her fiery temper. "Wonder if they've killed each other yet?" She chuckled.

--

Tracy was just stepping out of the shower when the bathroom door opened up. "What the fuck, Riddick?"

"My turn."

"You could have waited till I was done. Christ, give me two minutes and it's all yours."

"No time. We should have been gone an hour ago."

"Then what's another five minutes." He just ignored her and stripped off his pants and jumped in the shower.

"You always get naked in front of women you don't know?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Touché but in reality it was dark, and it was _my_ room."

"Whatever gets you through the night, sweetheart." He replied lightly.

_I'm gonna kill him. I think I might actually hate him. _She gathered up her stuff and was getting ready to leave the room when he spoke again.

"You know you clench your teeth at night? They say it's a sigh of sexual frustration." His voice was deep and sexy and it sent a shiver down her spine.

"Could just be frustration." She bit out, trying to push down her rising lust. 

"Maybe we should work on that." He suggested seductively and she felt her body clench at the thought.

"I think I can take care of it myself."

He made a deep rumbling sound in his throat, "Hummm, sexy."

_Gurrr! _She left the room with him laughing at her, _again._

_Fuck Riddick, what's you deal? Why are you getting some sick thrill at fucking with her head? _It was always one of his favorite games, but with her, he found himself almost unable to stop. He knew her less than twelve hours and so far he has seen her naked, twice, slept in the same bed with her wrapped around him and seen her in the shower. _You could never sleep when others are around, only Jack… interesting._

--

Once they reached space and Riddick set course for Crematoria, Tracy un-strapped herself and went to make them breakfast. Another thing she splurged on was the stove; she needed to have an oven. She loved to bake and enjoyed making casseroles and things of that nature, comfort foods. This morning she decided to make a spinach and cheese frittata with pan fried potatoes. "You want coffee or tea?" she asked him absently.

He was sitting at the table watching her. He would normally check the maps and such at this time, but he already knew where they were going. To hell.

"Whatever."

"I'm having tea. Coffee hurts my stomach."

"That's fine." Riddick watched her move, completely at ease in the kitchen and with the way she handled a knife. Of course a knife was different than a shiv. "You know how to use weapons? A gun, shivs?" he asked her after a while.

"Yeah, got a couple hand guns packed away and I'm okay with a shiv. Kyra's better, but she had you as a teacher..." He just grunted at her. She set down a cup of tea in front of him along with honey, sugar and cream. "Don't know how you take it." She watched him add some honey and milk, just like her and she smiled to herself.

"You say there were only three of them?" She nodded yes, "That's pretty light, even for Toombs."

"That's all I saw. Who knows, maybe they had more on their ship."

"Why didn't you try to stop them before they took her?" His voice was devoid of all emotions and he appeared casual as he made his tea but she could tell he was chastising her. If there were only three, he could have easily taken them all down before the first one hit the ground.

"Toombs had her cuffed and face first on the ground before I got there. All three of them had guns right up to her head and Toombs face was an inch from hers. I was afraid I would miss or that one of them would shoot her by reflex. I couldn't take the chance. I'm not fast or strong enough to take them down with a shiv."

"That's gonna change."

"What?"

"When we are done here, we're going to the pathetic excuse of a gym you have and I'm teaching you how to take the fucks down with a blade."

"You're gonna train me to use a shiv?"

"What else are we going to do for the next few weeks? Knit a sweater?"

Tracy looked at him and laughed. Just the thought of him knowing what knitting was is hysterical. Every once in a while you could see a playful side of him, and she was sure he had no idea it showed. _Not only is he built like a god and gorgeous, but he can be kinda cute too. Cute, Riddick the killer, cute? Tracy, you've lost your mind. _

They ate in silence. Riddick didn't want to let on how much it had meant to him to have someone cook for him without any strings attached. Kyra attempted to cook when they first go to Helion Prime but the first few attempts were almost inedible. Riddick ate them so he didn't hurt her feelings and because he never wasted food. When you didn't know when your next meal was going to be, you made do with whatever slop you could get.

"Jack ever learn how to cook?" he asked absently.

"God no. She burns toast. The woman has been banned from my kitchen for good."

Riddick let out a bark of laughter, "I remember. Nasty shit, worse than slam food." 

"But you ate it anyway," Tracy looked at him and didn't expect a reply. She didn't get one either, but she knew he had and she knew why. _Damn it!_ She thought to herself, he wasn't as heartless as she had hoped or wished. He was harsh and raw but he appeared to be a good man under it all. At least where Kyra was concerned. How did she harden herself against that?

When the mess was cleaned up, they headed to the small gym. More like a closet with some equipment. Riddick wanted to get an idea on what she already knew so he started off with a sparring session. He was less than thrilled with the results and made it well known. "I knew what you were going to do before you did. You have too many tells and are very predictable."

He shook his head. Absolutely unacceptable. He couldn't go into battle with this woman. She'd be a liability for sure. _How did people get through life without knowing how to protect themselves?_ He wondered. 

"Well Riddick, I've never actually trained with a blade." She told him, bristling at his annoyance. 

"You should have if you were serious about taking Johns out."

"I planned on using a gun for that. I told you I'm better with a gun that a shiv. Stick a gun in my hand; I'll blow your fucking ass away! That's what I did to protect myself. I didn't want to get close enough to use a blade, guns have more range."

"We have a simulator program and you can prove yourself, but you _will_ learn to handle a blade." He told her. It was more of an order than anything and she gritted her teeth. He was right but she didn't have to like it. 

"Fine by me, just remember I'm a fast learner." She grinned like a fool at that. She would learn what he was willing to teach her, it wasn't every day you got a lesson on killing form the most notorious killer in the galaxy.

For the next three hours, Riddick was relentless with his training. She was hot, sore and frustrated by lunch time and she was ready to prove her gun skills, for real, on his ass! "Enough! I'm going to eat and take a shower. I'm done for today, ok. Got a problem with that?" she bellowed. 

"Yeah."

"Too bad, get over it."

"I'm not done with you, Tracy."

"I'm done, Riddick. Look at me. I'm so tired I'm shaking with it. My hands are throbbing from the million little cuts you managed to get on them while _teaching_ me." She looked him over and frowned, "You don't have one fucking drop of blood on you, so back off. We got time."

"Jack was better with a blade at thirteen than you are now." He taunted her.

Tracy didn't take the bait. "Good for her." She threw over her shoulder as she left the room and headed to the galley. _Jack was better at thirteen. _

_Big fucking deal! Thinks he's all cool with those beautiful eyes and fantastic body. _

_Yeah, I know it has nothing to do with a shiv but still. _

_You're just pissed off at yourself because you suck with a blade and you don't want him to see any weakness in you. _

_He's Kyra's Tracy, remember that. Not yours. You can't have him, can't touch him. Can't watch the way his muscles ripple when he moves. _

_Stop it stop it stop it! _Tracy stood in front of the cooling unit and stared into it and seeing nothing as she silently berated herself.

"Mind getting me some water why you stand there and waste all the cool air?" She jumped at the sound of his voice. Damn she was always spacing out, thinking about him, or more to the point, his body. _What am I going to do? _Tracy threw him a bottle of water, a little too hard to be polite and he laughed at her.

_How I love getting under her skin. It's too easy really, and entirely too enjoyable. _

Tracy walked away from him before she either hit him or kissed him. She wasn't sure which way it would go at the moment so she did the safest thing and hid in the bathroom. _You're such a fucking coward Tracy, really hiding away in the bathroom? _He'd know she was hiding too. He knew everything.


	5. Tensions and Release

**5 Tensions and Release **

Time on the ship was passed slowly. There was almost a constant tension of some kind. When they were training it was sexual. Tracy couldn't help the way her body responded in close proximity to his. And when they weren't sparring, it was a different kind of tension. Being cooped up with someone you hadn't known, for a long period of time tended to frazzle the nerves.

Riddick longed for solitude but he couldn't pull his gaze away from Tracy. He chalked it up to being horny. There was no other option for him to entertain, really. He knew he would never grow attached to a woman.

They shared chores but Tracy did mostly all the cooking. Riddick seemed content with the set up and helped with the clean up.

One morning after breakfast he snapped, "What the _fuck _is all over the cups!"

"What are you talking about?" she asked him, puzzled. 

He picked up a cup and held it in her face and pointed to the lip if it. "This, see it? What the fuck is it? It's… waxy or something."

"I guess it's my lip balm." She told him after examining what he was so piss off about.

"It's a pain in the dick to get off, stop using it." He demanded.

"No!"

"What?"

"I said no. Got a hearing problem?"

He slammed the coffee mug down and Tracy wondered how it didn't shatter into a million pieces. "Don't fuckin' tell me no. Stop using the shit or you do the fuckin' dishes."

"Jesus, Riddick. You're such a baby!" She told him and tried to walk away. He grabbed her by the arm and slammed her against the wall.

She felt the bite of his blade against her neck but didn't flinch. She would _not_ show fear. Somewhere deep inside she knew he wouldn't hurt her and that he just had to blow off some steam. Perhaps he was feeling the same sexual pull as she was?

She smiled sweetly at him and dug her blade into his back a little harder before he realized she had it there. Right in his sweet spot.

He felt a surge of pride that was overshadowed by his rising lust. His lips were only a breath away from hers, "Good. You're learning." He told her but made no attempt to move.

They stood that way for a good five minutes, his shiv at her throat and hers in his back and the sexual tension snapping between them. She wished she could see his eyes. She wondered if it'd matter. He never gave anything away but she loved his eyes. Most of the time he kept them hidden behind his goggles.

Just when she felt like she was going to have an orgasm right there, without him even touching her, he cursed and stormed away into the gym.

Tracy stood there against the wall for a few more moments before she decided to go and take a cold bath. Her body was so hot and she could still feel the imprint of his muscles against hers. _Fuck I want him inside me. What am I going to do?_ In her mind, it was his hands and fingers that made her cum during her bath, not her own.

Riddick could smell her scent getting stronger the longer he held her, pinned to the wall. His cock was so hard he was sure she felt it but made no move to help him out with it. He wanted to fuck her, he'd admit it. And he'd even admit it wasn't because she was the only woman around. He also knew she wanted him, but like a good sister, she made no move on him because of Kyra. That pissed him off.

Sleeping naked next to her every night was a really bad idea but he would not give in and show weakness. He was grateful when she went to take a bath. The water helped lessen the scent she was putting off. The scent of her body calling his. His whole body clenched when he heard her whimper when she came. Sometimes having enhanced hearing was a bitch.

Eventually he gave into his body and jerked off in the gym as he remembered the way her body moved. Her scent was still in the air. The slight tang of her sweat from a towel she had left. He used it to clean himself up and it just made him hard and pissed off again. 

He couldn't wait to get to Crematoria so he could get out of this hell.

The next week progressed the same way. They would eat, train, fight, and bicker. She would hide in the bathroom for an hour and then read or something while he went back to the gym and worked out. She tried to keep her mind off of him and on other things, like Kyra or anything other than his body, the scent of his skin and the heat of him at night.

They were still sharing the same bed, both being too proud to accept defeat. They never spoke about it during the day and so far, nothing had happened. She had come to accept that more times than not she would wake up in his arms or wrapped around him in some way.

Riddick enjoyed mind fucking her and did it as much as he could, as much as his traitorous body would allow him too. He would stand really close to her and invade her space. Or sneak up on her silently and chuckle when she would just about jump out of her skin. Tracy skill with shivs improved greatly and he was pleased to have a worthy sparring partner. She had also proven her skills as a marksman; she was good, damn good with a gun. Dare he say better than him?

Tracy never realized how attached she was becoming to him, but he knew. He could tell in the way she talked to him, or the way she would watch him or listen to his voice. He found it intriguing. He always knew he could use his voice as a weapon, but with her, he found himself speaking just to see the look on her face and to see the tension leave her body.

She never realized that she touched him more and he never minded it. A slight brush of her hand here and there when she walked past him or the brush of her fingers when she would hand him something. Her resolve to hold out from him was weakening. He was happy about that but then wondered if getting involved with her sexually, this late in the game was worth the effort.

One evening, Riddick was in the pilot chair, making final adjustments to their course and while she took a bath. _Oh God Tracy, what are you going to do? You love him, you know that? I can't love him. He isn't mine to love, besides, who in their right mind loved a man like Riddick? I can't do this to Kyra. That's it, I'm moving to the other room. I'm moving all my shit out, tonight. I have to get over these feelings before it's too late and she gets hurt. She is the most important thing in my life. My own sister… how could I do this to her? _

Tracy walked up behind Riddick and laid her hand on his shoulder and pressed her chin to his bald head. "So, how much longer?"

Riddick knew she was there before she touched him. The smell of coconuts filled his senses, making him horny and hungry. He actually felt his heart jump when she touched her but he pretended not to notice, she didn't.

She had no idea what she had been doing to him lately. The touches and glances. He was going crazy with wanting her. He promised himself that he was moving to the other room tonight because there was no way he could make it through one more night without touching her.

"Little over two days." _Two long, cold nights alone in the other bed. _

"Do you think we will beat them there?" _Only two more nights to get through, only two more nights to fool yourself into believing there could be something more…_

"Chances are good that we will make it there pretty much the same time they do. It really comes down to who lands first at this point."

"Humm… Ok, I'm going to go to bed. Good night, Riddick." She said and never noticed the slight brush of her lips against his head, but he did and his cock jerked in response.

The scent of fucking coconuts was driving him crazy. He got up and went to the galley intent on getting piss drunk but he couldn't bring himself to take a sip. He didn't want to cloud his last two days with her in a fog of liquor. _Fuck you're such a fucking pussy. What the fuck is wrong with you? She's just like any other woman; you only want her because she doesn't want you. Once you have her and the challenge is gone, so will the desire and then you'll have to hear her cry and piss Jack off. No, it ain't worth it. Definitely sleeping in the other room tonight. _

Tracy made her way to the bedroom and looked around; she took a deep breath and felt tears prick her eyes. No matter what she did, she couldn't bring herself to pack up and leave. _Just one more night Tracy, that's it, one more night. You can keep your hands to yourself one more time. _She stripped and crawled into bed facing his pillow so she could catch his scent. _You're so fucked!_

It was late by the time he made it back to the room to collect his stuff but once he opened the door and saw her there, he couldn't remember why he was moving to the other room. The only thing he could think about was her body and the scent of her. _Just one more night Riddick, that's it, one more night. You can keep your hands to yourself one more time. _He stripped and crawled into bed facing her so he could watch her sleep. _You're so fucked!_

Tracy felt his hands sliding over her skin and sucked in a breath. She snuggled into his chest with a sigh and trailed her fingers over his side, down the length of his hip until she cupped his ass. She snaked her tongue out and tasted his skin for the first time and moaned. It was salty and spicy and addicting, more delectable than any food she had ever tasted.

His hand traveled to her breast and she moved to give him better access. Riddick took the opportunity to lick her neck and trace her collarbone with his lips. She tasted better than he imagined, sweet like honey. He took one rosy tipped nipple in his mouth and she moaned arching up into him as her nails bit into his back. The sensation was overwhelming, pain and pleasures mixed with her cries made him feel drunk.

He settled himself between her smooth thighs and waited for her to relax and accept reality, he was going to have her, he had to have her. "Riddick," She sighed when she felt the hard thickness of him probing at her slick, hot core. "I haven't…" 

"Shh, stay with me. I won't hurt you."

_I won't hurt you. Yes you will, when you walk away from me, when Kyra's back and I have to watch the two of you together. She told me about your connection. I have no chance against that. _"I can't do this Riddick. I'm sorry."

"Relax, I got you." He whispered against her skin as she slowly slipped into her.

Tracy's eyes snapped open, trying to figure out where she was and what was truth and dream. Had she and Riddick slept together? There was no way to tell, they were both naked again and she was clinging to him. She could feel her arousal and wetness between her legs. _Just a dream Tracy. That's all. Get up; get out before it's too late. _

_I can't. _She was close to tears now. All she had ever wanted out of life was beside her. She had never asked for anything in her life and she wouldn't ask for this, for him. She wouldn't hurt Kyra like that. Instead of leaving, she turned her back to him and closed her eyes, willing her heart to slow down and sleep to overtake her again. At least she could have him in her dreams, no one had to know, no one but her.

Riddick was awake the entire time. He heard her sigh his name and couldn't bring himself to fall back to sleep. He could hear her heart pounding and smell her desire. _Fuck, just once, that's all. I'll just taste her skin once, she won't know, she's sleeping again. _He found himself facing her back now as he slid closer to her. His heart was pounding now with the need to take her and fear she would wake up and push him away.

Slowly he controlled his breathing as he wrapped his hand around her middle, resting on her flat tummy. He sniffed her bare neck and then tasted her with one long slow lick of his tongue. Only sheer will kept him from moaning at the flavor of her skin. _Beautiful. _ He was so wrapped up he never realized she had awoken again. He decided to taste her once more even though he could feel himself starting to get hard. He couldn't stop himself.

"What are you doing?" She whispered and he froze. Should he pretend being asleep and didn't hear her? "Riddick?" her voice was hardly a breath and it was his undoing.

"I've never tasted coconut before. I wanted to know if it was as sweet as it smells." His words sent his hot breath over the wetness left by his tongue and she shivered. That wasn't the only reason for it though. _Oh god I'm going to die. _Neither one moved away, they couldn't.

Her heart was pounding again so fast she was sure it would explode and she knew he heard it. She slid her hand over his and laced her fingers with his. "I'll make you a pie tomorrow." She whispered back, anything louder would have been too much. They tried to wait out the sexual tension like before but this time it just grew stronger.

She could feel him hard and thick pressed against her ass and was so completely unsure of what to do. Should she touch him, just once or get up and run. _Run!_ The voice in her head said as she turned her head to look over her shoulder. Her eyes locked with the silver of his and she knew she was lost. In that moment, nothing and no one else mattered but him. His hands, his scent, his heat of his body. He was her world; she would deal with regrets tomorrow.

He turned her slightly so he could capture her lips with his. His kiss was slow and thorough, a slow dance of tongues demanding a response from the other. Tracy reached over with her other arm and grabbed the back of his head causing him to deepen the kiss. _Forgive me Kyra…_The words shimmered in her mind before they were replaced with the sensation of his hand on her breast.

Riddick was trying to go slow, he didn't want to scare her away, and he could feel her uncertainty and knew why. She felt like she was betraying Kyra. He didn't really understand this, why was she so sure he wanted Kyra and not her? He hadn't seen Jack in over five years and didn't even know what she looked like anymore. Why was she so sure that they were going to hook up? He made his move, before she pulled away, rolling on top of her as he claimed her lips in a fierce kiss. He nibbled her jaw and tasted her throat. He wanted to bite her more than anything at that moment but he refused. He didn't want to hurt her.

Tracy felt his muscles ripple under her fingers and his lips claiming hers. She had never experienced anything like this. She had only a few experiences with sex and they had hurt and made her feel dirty. Right now she felt wonderful and sexy. His hands slid over her silk-like-skin, so gentle but firm. His mouth was driving away all thought and reason.

When he was between her legs, she froze and looked up into his silver eyes. This was Riddick, he wouldn't hurt her. He wasn't using her like a whore or forcing himself on her. She wanted this and the guilt of that; she would carry with her for the rest of her days.

"Shh, stay with me. I won't hurt you."

"Riddick," His name was a strangled sob on her lips. 

"Open up for me, baby," He muttered against her neck, "Let me in." His lips claimed hers again in a kiss designed for her complete surrender, and it worked. He felt her relax and pull him closer to her. _That's it baby, let me in._ He entered her slowly, inch by torturous inch. When he was finally buried to the hilt, he had to grit his teeth to keep from pounding into her. "You're so tight," He gasped as she wrapped her long legs round his waist, pulling him even deeper into her body.

When he began to move, it was her turn to gasp. The feel of him deep inside her left her reeling. Was it always like this when people had sex? Is this why everyone was so obsessed with the idea? She was sure she could become obsessed with having him inside her. She realized the huge mistake she had made by letting this happened but for the life of her, she couldn't make herself care.

Long, sure deep strokes, nice and slow as to not hurt her, he was dying, burning up. He wanted to take her fast and end the pain he was in.

She was responding to him now, meeting him with each thrust and he realized he couldn't breathe. He had sex more times than he could remember, with more women than he cared to admit, but it was different with her. She was the only one that really had any idea who and what he was, but she still let him in.

Why?

He felt her body start to tighten and she whispered his name somewhat franticly. "Let go, I got you." At his words, he felt her walls start to grip him and he increased his pace. He couldn't help it, she was milking him, making him ready to explode and when she finally went over, he went with her, willingly, if not too soon. He didn't want it to end but he needed release.

He felt her arms slide away from his back and he looked at her, locking his eyes with her. "No regrets, Tracy." She shook her head as tears gathered in her eyes. "Don't you dare cry, you have no reason to feel guilty."

"Yes I do."

"No!" His voice was quiet but laced with steel. "We've been dancing around each other for weeks."

"Kyra..."

He shook his head, "Not now…" as he began to move again. She moaned and he smiled against her breast. He had his way of keeping regrets at bay.


	6. Regrets

**6 Regrets **

Once Riddick got a taste of her, he was insatiable. It was almost morning by the time they finally fell into a deep sleep and slept till after one. Tracy stumbled to the bathroom to take a shower and found that he joined her shortly after. "Riddick, please I can't, you're killin' me." He just chuckled and took the coconut scented washcloth from her and began a slow, sensual cleansing of her body. Tracy just closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of his hands on her.

"So about that pie?" he muttered against her neck, breathing in her scent. "Don't worry," she told him with a slight smile. "I didn't forget about it. I'm not training today, I'm too sore." She sighed in contentment as his hands worked her shoulders. Again his deep, smug rumble of a laugh came and she felt chills rise on her body. She was in big trouble.

After the shower, she baked his coconut cream pie as promised while he worked out alone. She needed the time to get a handle on herself and her emotions. What was she doing? Kyra was going to kill her; this was going to kill Kyra. _Fuc__k __Tracy__, what did you do? _While the pie was cooling she went over to her computer and pulled up a video that she and Kyra had made a few weeks ago, just for kicks one night after becoming giddy on sugar.

_-Video-_

_"So Kyra, If you could have anything you heart ever desired, what would it be?" __Tracy__ asked, "Or do I even need to ask." Kyra just smiled with that same dreamy look on her face she always got when she thought about _him.

_"I wonder what he's doing now." Kyra muttered dreamily. "Do you think__ we will be able to find him?"_

_"Yeah."__Tracy told her. They were close to finding him. Kyra was determined. _

_"Wonder what he will think of me?"_

_"He will think you are the most beautiful woman alive, cause you are and will fall madly in love with you the moment he sets eyes on you again."_

_"Please, Tracy; we're talking about Riddick here." She said with a laugh. "Hell would freeze over before he ever made a declaration of love."_

_"You're ok with that?"_

_"Hum, as long as I had him, I would be fine with anything."_

_"You still love him, after all these years? __After he left you?"_

_Kyra nodded and smiled. "You wait till you meet him. There is just something about him. The way he walks, talks, and smells. He is all man and those eyes… beautiful. I fell in love with him the first moment I saw him."_

_"You were only thirteen."_

_"Doesn't matter, when I saw him, chained up like some kind of monster, my heart felt like it had been ripped out.__ He didn't deserve to be treated that way."_

_"Well to be fair, Kyra, he did murder people."_

_"Yeah well, so did I, do I deserve to be in chains for self-defense?"_

_"Point taken.__ What is it about him that you love?" _

_"His strength, at times it can be so subtle and other times so overwhelming. He is the strongest man I have even seen. Intelligent to the point of being scary, he sees everything at once and can work out a problem like nothing I have ever seen. There's nothing he can't do."_

_"Except love?"_

_"Well, he does, in his own way. He has never been shown any kindness in his life, how can you learn how to love when no one has ever loved you?"_

_"And you plan on showing him?" _

_"If he'll let me, and even if he doesn't, I'm going to love him anyway."_

_-End Video-_

"Shit." Tracy said as she felt her heart squeeze with regret.

"So that's Kyra?" Riddick said from behind her, causing her to jump with a small scream. _How long had he been there? Did he see the whole video?_ She quickly stopped the video and nodded her head. "She grew up."

"People tend to do that." She muttered, not meeting his eye. _God what did __I __do?__ Kyra will never forgive me._

Riddick watched her face and knew what her problem was. He had seen enough of the video to understand why she felt such guilt. "She kinda looks like you." He said quietly as he watched the emotions play over Tracy's face.

"Yeah." Tracy choked out. Imam had commented all the time how much the resembled each other. Like real sisters.

"Your pie is ready." She said as she tried to push him.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her tight against his chest. Still she wouldn't look at him. Finally he sighed and let her go. He would deal with it later.

Tracy's hands were shaking badly and her heart was pounding. They'd get to Crematoria tomorrow, how was she going to face Kyra with what she had done? She broke the biggest rule there was, _never sleep with the man your sister/friend is in love with_. But she had and she enjoyed every moment of it. She only hoped she could hold out against him from now on. She had to because the guilt would eat her alive.

During dinner they went over the plan again on both scenarios, the first being if they beat Toombs there and the second if Riddick had to go in and get her, but she still never really looked at him and it was starting to piss him off.

He had no idea where the two of them got the idea they could tell him what and more importantly,_ who_ he could do. He was his own man, if he wanted to fuck them both; it was his business and his alone. He didn't, he only wanted Tracy which was shocking to him in itself. He hadn't seen Kyra in over five years, in his mind; she was still just a kid.

After dinner, Tracy went to their room and started to pack her stuff. She couldn't stay here, she decided, she was already sick with guilt over what she had done to Kyra as it was. She couldn't let it happen again. Just so long as he didn't touch her, she was ok, but the moment his hand brushed her, she was lost. _Damn that man!_

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked coolly as he leaned against the door jam.

"Packing, what does it look like?" she answered somewhat snippy and, again, without looking at him.

"Why?"

"I can't do this, Riddick. I can't do this to her. It was a mistake."

"Didn't feel like a mistake to me."

"Well… it still should have never happened." Her voice was no devoid of all emotion and that just pissed him off.

"Then we should have never been sleeping in the same bed." His tone was icy as he growled at her.

"You're right, I was stupid and wrong and I'm sorry. This is going to crush her." Tracy told him as her emotions sung the other way and she found herself fighting back tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. Tears for losing him, tears for what she had done. Her hands were shaking no matter how much she willed them to be steady.

"I saw the video. Is this what this is all about?" he asked on a sigh.

"She loves you Riddick."

"And what do you feel?"

Tracy snapped the flap of her bag closed and spun to look at him for the first time that day, "It doesn't matter what I feel as long as she's happy."

Riddick didn't really take to a woman having such deep regrets sleeping with him. She had wanted it just as much as he did, maybe more. "What about me, what about what I want?"

Tracy gave a small bitter laugh, "Please Riddick, who are you kidding? If she finds out about this, she will be devastated and she will take it out on both of us. She will never forgive me and you, well she will because you're _you_. I'll be out in the cold, alone. I won't be able to sit and watch the two of you together and she won't be able to see us together. It's hopeless. The best thing I can do is walk away." _Before I love you too much to__ give you up_.

"So your just gonna give up? Pretend this never happened, that there's nothing here?"

"There _isn't_ anything here, Riddick. You said so yourself, you're not gonna settle down. It's not in you. I'm tired of running; I want a life, a house, children maybe." She grabbed her bag and tried to move past him but he grabbed her by the arm.

He removed his goggles, shook her slightly and looked her straight in the eyes, "Look me in the eye and tell me you don't want me."

"You know I can't do that."

"So you're gonna be a coward and run?" he accused, still holding on to her.

"You ran."

"I ran because I cared." Why was he telling her this stuff? What was wrong with him? Richard B. Riddick didn't need or want anything. He could get a piece of ass any time he wanted to, and a good portion of the time for free so why was he standing here and fighting with her about it. _It's her you want. _

_Shut up! _

"Same here."

"You're not going anywhere." He decreed before he crushed his mouth to hers. She whimpered at the slight pain but kissed him back just as furious. Before she knew what happened he had her naked and back on the bed. His mouth and teeth were everywhere, tasting her, marking her, nipping at her. His mouth settled over her throbbing core, his tongue stabbed deep and made her scream and clutch the sheets. "Tell me to stop, Tracy."

"Please, Riddick." He was driving her out of her mind and he knew it.

"Tell me this isn't what you want."

"I can't…" she gasped out as he slid a thick, long finger inside of her. He felt her walls gripping his finger as he slid another one deep inside her. Tracy was sobbing now for relief but he held her on the edge, not letting her go over and not letting her come back down from it.

"This is what you want isn't it?" She shook her head yes. "You want me inside you," he told her with another slow lick that threatened to send her over but he stilled all movement. "I'm not letting you go until I'm ready to, you understand that?" he growled at her.

Tracy choked back a sob, "That's not fair Riddick!"

"Life ain't fair sweetheart." He told her as his other hand unfastened his pants and pushed them down, freeing himself. He pulled his hand out so he could get his pants down and she cried out in protest. He chuckled at her desperation, though he shared it. "I'm gonna take you all night long, any way you can imagine, and some you can't. You'll never get me out of your blood. See if you can walk away from me then."

"Why Riddick? Why are you doing this to me?"

Riddick was pissed and pissed off fucking was never really a good idea for him, but he refused to walk away. He refused to let two women decide his life. "Because only I control my life and only I get to decide what is best for me and who I want. It's not your choice and isn't hers."

"Don't do this to me Riddick. I can't…" She broke off as he slammed into her. She wanted to push him away but found herself wrapping her legs round him. _Please stop, I don't want to love you… please…_

Tracy somehow managed to form a thought and even speak with him inside her, "What about how I feel, Riddick?" She asked breathlessly. "Kyra and I will both be crushed when you walk away." He didn't reply only brought his mouth down to suckle on her breast, effectively scattering all her thoughts.

He had stopped thinking about five minutes ago. The beast was in full control and all he wanted to do was mate. There was a rational part, somewhere in the back of his mind that knew she was right. Riddick wouldn't stay, it wasn't his way and he didn't want to hurt her, but he couldn't change who and what he was.

Tracy had never been exposed to his inner animal; she had no idea what she was up against. His resolve was implacable. He could feel her trembling beneath him, but he wasn't sure if it was from fear or the need for release and he didn't care. He had made up his mind and no one was going to change it. For once in his pathetic life, he was going to take what he wanted, and at this moment, that was Tracy.

She screamed as she came apart in his arms but he still didn't stop. True to his words, he just kept on taking her. Their orgasms where intense but it never seemed too satisfy either one of them and they would start back up again.

Tracy still tried to move away to stop the intense feelings but every time he would look at her or touch her, she would fall right back into his trap, just like he wanted. Finally, they succumbed to the need to sleep, Crematoria's only a few hours away and they needed to be sharp. They had no idea what was waiting there for them.


	7. Kyra

**7 Kyra**

Alarms sounded, waking them both up. Riddick got up and quickly showered and then moved to the bridge, leaving Tracy to get cleaned up and try to make some order out of their room. The scent of sex was still heavy in the air, she could only hope that it would quickly dissipate when they opened the hatch and got some fresh air. Aside from that, she had no idea how long it would take to get Kyra and for the last two weeks she hadn't slept by herself and she was just a little more than a bit upset by that.

She swore to herself that she would not fall into his trap again. She would harden herself against him, his eyes and the brush of his hand. No, she had to stop. She was going to burn in hell as it was for what she did to Kyra. She knew she would never be able to look the younger girl in the eye again.

Kyra was so smart and sharp she'd be able to tell what happened in no time. There was no way Tracy could hide it as much as she wanted to keep from hurting the younger girl. Tracy had let her emotions run away from her and now she would pay the ultimate price. She'd lose both Kyra and Riddick.

"Get your ass up here Tracy. It's time to land." Riddick called back to her, snapping her from her thoughts.

"Get your ass up here Tracy." She mocked to herself as a way to try and calm her nerves. It didn't work and only made him yell at her more. _Fuck, does the man hear everything?_

"Yes." He called back on a chuckle. _Wait, I didn't speak out loud…_ "I can read you like a book Tracy. Now sit that fine ass of yours down so I can land this bitch and we can get it over with."

"Don't you think that perhaps I should be the one flying? I mean you are my prisoner after all." He just raised an eyebrow at her and smirked. "Yeah, but what if someone sees?"

"Do you honestly think they are sitting around, checking out pilots?"

"Who knows, maybe?" He just shook his head, _women._ Tracy picked up the com and gave their information, "Tower, this is the Billy Jo Johns, number 65832. _Avenger_ requesting clearance to land and the drop of Riddick, Richard B."

"You are clean to land, bring her in slow; Toombs is in the hanger now."

"Roger. _Avenger_ out." 

Riddick and Tracy just looked at each other, could it really be this easy? No, something was sure to go wrong. "Once I touch down, you start packing it on. Take as many guns and ammo you can carry, blades, if I have to go in, I can only carry what I can hide to make this look real. They have cameras. If they aren't in the hanger anymore, you'll have to cuff me and lay me on the sled."

Against her wishes she smirked at him. "Sounds kinky." He just growled at her. Riddick touched down and they could see Toombs and his crew still scurrying around on the pad, heading toward the sled.

"Looks like at least five, maybe more." Tracy said as her eyes searched out for Kyra.

"You said three." He grumbled at her. 

"I said I _saw_ three and that there could be more. They were hoping for you to remember, Toombs would never come at you with just three after you."

"And you expect them to believe you and _you alone_ took me out."

"Frankly, I don't give a shit what they think. I'm here to get my sister out." She snapped. She hated that condescending tone he used. 

"Ever kill anyone before?" His question was so off topic it almost confused her.

"No." He sighed, _fuck, this ain't right, something bad is gonna happen, I can feel it._ "Ok, you know how to shoot, aim for the chest."

"I hit what I aim at."

"Listen Tracy, this isn't target shooting here; you pull that trigger and mean business. You don't take them down; they will take you down, got it?" She gave him a curt nod, he didn't understand, she would do anything for Kyra, including dying or even giving up the man she was, unfortunately, in love with. Damn him and his eyes.

"Let's do this." She muttered and pressed a button.

As the hatch lowered, Toombs and his men turned around and looked at her. She finally caught a glimpse of Kyra in chains, but she appeared in good health.

Toombs looked at the woman and something nagged at his brain. He wouldn't place it, or her but he was sure he had seen her before. Had he fucked her? Naw, that couldn't be it, female mercs were cunts. "Well looky here kiddies, a female merc, all cold bitches with ice for pussies." Toombs gravelly voice echoed in the hanger. 

Tracy dropped into her _merc mode_ as she called it, "Fuck you, Toombs." No one had seen Riddick yet, he was still behind her but she could feel him stiffen and surveying the layout. 

"See boys, hope you don't plan on tapping that ass, she'll freeze your dick off. Who are you anyway princess, don't think I've seen you before." He said still trying to place her. 

"Names Johns." 

"Any relation to that other fuck that Riddick took out?"

"Yep, the asshole was my sperm donor, got a fucking problem with that?" Tracy sneered at him.

"You're Johns kid?" Toombs asked disbelievingly.

"What, you think I'm fuckin' lyin'? Why the fuck would I lie about something like that?"

"You're too old to be Johns' kid."

"You really are as stupid as they say Toombs. Fuck, cryo, keeps you from aging. Good ol' Pops was older than you think."

"Bitch." He sneered at her. One thing Toombs hated was smart ass bitches that thought they knew everything. He jerked his chin, "Who you got?"

"Someone your sorry ass couldn't catch. Who you got?"

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours." His rough voice was full of innuendo and it made her ears hurt, not like the sexy smooth voice of Riddick.

"I'd rather fuck my dog."

Riddick's harsh laugh came from behind her and stilled everyone in the chamber. Kyra smiled, she knew why Tracy was there and she knew the owner of that laugh. The tension in the hanger when up about three hundred percent, and Tracy saw Toombs team starting to unsnap their guns and get ready.

Toombs was sure he had heard that voice before but there was no way that a small, skinny broad could get Riddick by herself. No way. "I asked you who your payday was bitch."

"Bitch," she turned and looked over her shoulder to her 'payday' and continued to speak, "Ice for pussies. What do you think? Think I've got ice for a pussy?" she asked.

The mysterious deep voice rumbled from behind her again, "No, your pussy is tight and hot."

"Thanks." She smiled at the men in the hanger. "See there, I'm not cold, I just pick my partners with discretion… you know ones that shower more than once a month, one's that shave and have nice teeth. I'm picky like that," she smirked, "So it looks like you and your team is out."

Toombs took a step toward her, pulling his gun up, she just raised her eyebrow and cocked her head. Riddick almost laughed again. She had spent way too much time with Kyra and him if she was starting to do that.

There was something about that voice, Toombs knew it, but why couldn't he place it? "Come on Toombs let's get out of here and get our money. I want to be long gone before that fuck Riddick shows up." One of his men said to him.

"You're a pussy too." Toombs bitched at the man that spoke.

"Hold the sled for me won't you Toombs?" She called out to him in her sweetest voice.

"Whatever, make it fast, I ain't got all day." He grumbled and turned away from her, big mistake. When Riddick felt they were all in the proper position and saw Kyra had access to a gun he pushed her forward. She walked down the hatch as Riddick began to speak.

"Couple of things you could have done better Toombs. One, don't come after Jack to get to me. Two and this is the really important one, catch my sorry ass before I found yours first."

"Riddick," Toombs growled.

The eruption of gunfire was deafening as shots rang out in every direction. Riddick, as always chose one of his blades that he casually snagged from the back of Tracy's pants. Toombs and his crew shot at him as he made his way to Kyra but no one hit him. He trusted Tracy to have his back. The thought would have pulled him up short if he had had time to think about it. He had never really trusted anyone before, but he did her.

Tracy was doing a good job at cutting down the men. She had taken out four, Riddick took out another three before he reached Kyra. He heard another explosion of bullets as Kyra took out one to his left as he saw the one on his right drop.

"Riddick." Kyra's voice was breathless with happiness and the rush of adrenaline.

"Hey kid, I'm getting sick of saving your ass."

"I missed you too, Riddick." Kyra told him smiling. She wanted to hug him but thought better of it. He was in battle mode. No time for hugs and kisses.

They started to make their way back to the ship. Tracy was still standing right outside the hatch, watching them, her heart in her throat. Riddick and Kyra. The man she loved and her best friend and sister, who loved the same man. What was she going to do? A cold sweat broke out all over her body and she felt sick to the stomach.

As they walked back, Tracy never lowered her gun, you never knew if one of those fucks were going to come back from the dead and start shooting. Especially Toombs, he was hard to kill it would seem.

They all caught the movement at the same time, a small subtle lift of the hand and randomly aiming as the couple walked by. The shots rang out at the same time. Toombs fired at the exact moment Tracy did, then all was quiet. He was dead, the grey matter proof of his demise. Tracy saw what happened as if it was in slow motion. Kyra stepped in front of Riddick and took the bullet for him. Tracy lifted her eyes and saw both Riddick and Kyra hit the ground. She dropped her gun and ran to them. 

"Kyra?" She screamed. "Kyra!" She pushed Riddick aside and saw the red stain spreading over the younger girl's chest. "Kyra." She sobbed, and applied pressure to the wound on Kyra's chest. "You are not going to die on me do you hear? We didn't come all this way for you to die. Hold on."

Kyra gasped and coughed, blood splattered out of her mouth. "Tracy," She cried out.

"I'm here Kyra. I'll never let anything happen to you again. Riddick and I will take care of you." Tracy couldn't stop the stream of tears that ran down her face. Her sister was shot, dying and there was nothing she could do about it.

Kyra shook her head, "Too late sister. You take care of him for me. You take care of the Riddicks, both of them. Promise me."

"No, you take care of them yourself. You're not dying here, not like this." Tracy was shaking; it was all she could do to keep pressure on the bullet wound.

"Tracy please. Promise me. He needs someone, more than he knows." She leaned down and pulled the younger girl in her arms and began to sob.

Kyra turned her head, "Riddick," her voice was soft now as her body grew colder. Riddick looked at her, his eyes full of guilt and sorrow, it made her smile. "I love you Riddick. Take care of Tracy. Keep her safe for me." She sighed one last time and whispered, "I love you both…" as her voice trailed off and her breathing stopped.

Tracy started to scream. "Kyra! Wake up Kyra. Riddick do something. She's not dead, she can't be dead. Kyra."

"We've got to go." He told her without emotion. Tracy didn't even look his way. She kept clutching Kyra's body sobbing and rocking. "Guards are coming, we got to go," Riddick stood up and roared, "Now woman." Still she made no attempt to move. He grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up and began to drag her back to the ship.

"Stop." She cried, "Kyra. Let me go Riddick. We can't just leave her here."

"She's gone Tracy."

"We can't leave her."

"We can't bring her." He set her down on the deck and looked into her eyes, his voice was tight with anger and some other unspent emotion Tracy didn't recognize. "We can't bring her." He repeated enunciating ever word and then closed the hatch. As soon as the hatch closed, they could hear shots pinging off the hull. "In your seat now." He ordered her. They strapped themselves in and he fired up the engines and took off, leaving Kyra behind.


	8. Blame and Absolution

8 Blame and Absolution

Once they were in space, she un-strapped herself and walked into the back of the ship. He followed her, though he was unsure why.

She whirled on him. "This is your fault." She spat the words at him, knowing they weren't true but she needed someone to take the anger and pain out on. She punched him in the chest and he took it without comment or action. Then she punched him again, twice before she collapsed against him sobbing.

He held her, his own heart cut with pain. Kyra was gone and it was his fault. If he hadn't left her alone all those years ago, then none of this would have happened.

After a few minutes, she began to calm down a little and felt something warm and sticky on her hand. She pulled back and looked at her hand, shocked to find blood, knowing she wasn't cut. It must be Kyra's, but it was still wet and fresh. She pulled up Riddick's shirt and gasped. He'd been shot.

"Riddick." He glanced down and shrugged, he never even made a noise about it, not one whimper of pain. She was standing there, sobbing like a fool and he was bleeding and in pain.

"Go to the bedroom and put your goggles on. I need to look at that." He silently did as she told him. She came back in the room a few minutes later with the first aid kit and few medical supplies they had on the ship.

"Lights 100 percent." She winced when she saw the wound in the light. "It didn't go all the way though, I'll have to take it out." She told him matter-of-factly.

He was shot in the side, right under his right ribs. It went in the back but it hadn't come out the front. Tracy could see the faint outline of the bullet just under the skin. She felt her stomach roll, if Kyra hadn't jumped in front of him and pushed him aside, he would have died. He still might if she didn't get the bullet out and clean it before infection could take hold.

Kyra gave her life so Riddick would live, Tracy was sure of it. She knew what she was doing when she stepped in front of that gun. And she knew that she would do it the same way if she had the chance. Kyra would do anything for Riddick.

"You know I don't blame you right?" She whispered to him as she worked, he grunted in response but remained stoic as she shot him with a numbing agent.

Riddick didn't think she really blamed him but he blames himself. Kyra's blood was on his hands, just like Imam's and Carolyn's. Anyone that he let himself care about.

"You know what you're doing?" he asked her absently, trying to change his thoughts.

"Yeah, it was part of my flight training. First aid and small surgical procedures, birthing babies. As caption of a ship, I would've had full responsibility of everyone on board. I can even perform a marriage." Riddick listened to her voice, laid back and didn't speak for some time. Tracy only thought about the task at hand, she couldn't think about anything else if she wanted to stay strong. If she thought about Kyra, she would fall apart again and Riddick needed her now to get the bullet out. While she was sure he had worked on himself over the years, she didn't want him to have to do that. She would do it, she owed him that much.

"I'm sorry." He told her quietly after a time. She shook her head, willing him not to speak, hoping he would continue. His voice would shatter her but then again, he was the only thing, the only one that could offer her comfort. While she was sure he was upset, there was no way it could compare to what she was feeling and they both knew it.

"There, all done. I think you'll be ok. We got it fast. You shouldn't get an infection but I gave you a shot of antibiotic anyway." She collected the stuff and started to get up when he grabbed her arm.

"Come here." Tracy shook her head; she didn't want him to see her break down again. "Come on, baby. We've had a long, shitty day. We're safe right now, get some sleep."

"I don't want to close my eyes, Riddick, and see it all again." The sight of Kyra being gunned down was burned into her mind for all time. 

"I know. Just lie down with me, let me hold you." He wouldn't admit to himself that he needed to hold her as much as she needed to be held.

She finally nodded and curled up beside him feeling empty and cold. He wrapped his body around her as his heat began seeping into her icy skin and she finally started to drift off to sleep safe in his arms.

-

"What do we do now?" she wondered aloud. 

"We move on,"

"There's nothing left Riddick. I'm twenty five fucking years old and for the second time in my life I'm completely alone. There is no one, nowhere to go. Everyone I have ever cared about had died in front of me by the hands of fucking mercs! I swear to God I'm going to kill every last motherfucker I see, every fucking one of them."

They had that one thing in common. Everyone he's ever cared about died by a merc's hands too. The thought was disturbing.

"You can't just start going around and killing mercs, Tracy." As much as he would love to be able to do just that. 

Her eyes flashed at him and he was surprised by the amount of rage and bloodlust he saw there. The makings of a killer. "You sure about that? What do I have to lose?"

"Your life, your freedom. The slam's no place for a woman." That's why he was so desperate to get Kyra out of there before she was defiled.

"I don't care anymore…" Her hands were clenched in fists but her chin was quivering. She refused to cry again. She didn't care what happened to her now that Kyra was gone and she was alone. There was probably a bounty on her head now also. 

Riddick got up and in two huge strides was looming over her, his fingers digging painfully into the soft flesh of her upper arms. "You fucking should." He growled at her and gave her a little shake, "Is this what she would have wanted? You to throw away your life like this? I know Kyra, she would want you to be strong, move on. Start over again."

"Start over again?" she shrieked; "Only to have it all ripped away again? No thanks." Tracy couldn't look him in the eyes. The damn silver eyes cut right to her soul when he looked at her.

Riddick raised his voice at her, "Where the _fuck_ is that woman that yelled at me over the com? Where the _fuck_ is that woman that picked herself up after her whole family died and went after the fuck Johns? What happened to _her_? You better find her again, Tracy, because the woman I see in front of me is weak and stupid talking about going after mercs. Get your shit together and lets come up with a fuckin' plan that doesn't involve us being hunted like dogs."

He released her so suddenly she fell back against the wall with a startled cry. Riddick just reamed her ass out and for good reason. He was right; Kyra would expect more out of her. She'd expect her to move on and deal with what came next. If she went off half cocked, she'd do nothing but draw unwanted attention to Riddick and she didn't want that.

He taught her how to use a blade and there would be no way to hide his influence. They'd use her to get to him, just like they did Kyra.

Tracy stood up and slapped Riddick across the face, "That's for calling me weak," she bit out angrily.

His eyes flashed at her a moment before he grinned. He picked her up and carried her to their bedroom as she squealed against his back. He tossed her on their bed and crawled over top of her, "You know what we need?" he rumbled against her ear as he ground his hips into hers.

"What?" she asked, her voice husky with desire. 

"We need to fuck and I need to feel you cum around me," he whispered sensually as he placed little nips on her chin and collarbone. 

"But your wound," she protested as he settled his mouth over her nipple. They were both completely dressed but her body responded anyway and she cupped the back of his head and pressed her breast into his hot mouth.

He growled and ripped her shirt down the middle and pulled it from her body. His wound was completely forgotten by him as his need to be inside of her grew. As his beast demanded to mate and to feel life under him. He may not be showing any outward signs of grief but he was still hurting from losing Kyra. She was like a sister to him and the last of the two people he ever cared about.

_Until Tracy. _The thought brought him up short. He pulled back and looked down at her. Her lips were red and swollen from his kisses and there were small bite marks all over her neck. To him, she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

"Riddick," she whispered and opened her eyes and looked into his.

He groaned and cursed. _I don't fuckin love her. Don't know what love is, just like fucking her is all. _His mind raced as she found the soft spot behind his ear that drove him insane. _I don't…I…can't…love her… _it was his last coherent thought before he slid inside her and found his home.

--

Long after she fell asleep, he lay awake, watching her and listening to the sound of her breathing. He was truly shaken by his earlier thoughts and how much they caught him off guard. He liked Tracy. She made him laugh and she was a good sport when it came to his mind fucks. She even dealt well with his mood swings but was it love? Could someone like him ever really love?

She sighed and snuggled closer to him and he thought about what it would have been like if she was the one that died and not Kyra. He felt his heart skip a beat as realization sunk in. He would have been mad with grief and out for blood. He would have gone into Crematoria and killed every single one of the guards for even accepting Kyra's bounty and putting Tracy in danger.

It didn't matter that if Kyra hadn't been taken there he'd've met her; all that would have mattered would have been revenge.

Riddick closed his eyes and cursed himself ten times a fool. He couldn't afford to love anyone, not with his lifestyle. He had nothing to offer her and he could never settle down and give her a life, a family. She said she wanted kids. Kids? The thought filled him with dread and something else he wasn't sure of.

He felt her shift and smiled as she slowly became aware of him. First her body responded. Her nipples stiffed against his chest and then her arousal began. He could smell the unique scent of her sweet honey and then finally her mind. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. She smiled at him like she was happy to see him. Him, a convicted murder and an escaped con and she was happy to wake up in his arms.

_Fuck! _

His mind roared as he felt himself fall--and he was lost. He smiled back and kissed her forehead, "Hey," he said and noticed his voice sounded deeper than normal.

"Mornin'," she said and leaned her head up to nibble on his rough jaw. She lapped her tongue over his stubble and made him shiver.

She felt good. She loved waking up in Riddick's arms but something was different today. She couldn't place it, but her heart felt lighter and her grief less. Riddick had been right about them needing to sleep together. It bounded them closer and helped scab over the wounds.

He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her deeply, "Tracy," he whispered. He had no idea what he was going to say to her and he wasn't ready to admit his feelings.

She smiled at him and cupped his face. Tracy shifted and climbed on top of him. She ran her hands run over his chest and traced the outside of his bandage. She almost lost him and that scared her more than anything ever could. Her heart still bled for Kyra but it was time to move on and she hoped that Riddick would want to move on with her.

She locked eyes with him as she lowered herself onto his shaft. Riddick gripped her hips and helped guide her body. They found a smooth rhythm and he slid his hands from her hips and gripped her hands in his. Riddick pulled her toward him and when their lips touched, he moaned. He released her hands and wrapped his arms around her back and held her close as his hips kept time with hers. Slowly, in and out. He stroked her back with one hand and cupped the back of her head with his other.

"Riddick," Tracy gasped as she felt her orgasm building. The gentle way he was making love to her had her trembling. The way he was touching her was different than ever before and she knew he was opening up to her for the first time. She was overcome with emotion and with love for him. Tears slipped from her eyes and she felt the rasp of his tongue as he drank then in.

"Don't cry, baby." He whispered against her cheek.

"Oh God, Riddick, I love you," she sobbed as she exploded around him.

His breath hitched and his hands trembled as the gripping of her body sent him over the edge. He cried out her name and let himself go. For the first time in his life, he let all his guards down and gave her everything he had. It may not have been words of love, but they were actions of it. She'd know how he felt until he worked up the nerve to say the words, if that day ever came.

Tracy snuggled into his chest and cried silent tears. She knew he loved her and that was all that mattered now. Nothing else, just Riddick and making a life with him.

They were silent for a long time before she spoke, "Are you going to come to Alpha Luna with me?"

He was playing with her hair, watching the shine of light off of it when she asked the question. He answered before he thought about it, "Yes," and he felt her relax fully against him.

"Thank you, Riddick, for everything."

He didn't think he deserved her thanks so he said nothing, just kissed her on the forehead. "I'll set course when we get up. It'll take a few weeks to get there. Should we stop and get the dog?"

Tracy shook her head, "No. I think he's happy there with his mate. Let him be happy… maybe we could stop and say goodbye though? Tell him what happened."

"Ok,"

He didn't question her sanity, wanting to tell a dog that his owner was dead. He knew somehow the animal would understand and stop waiting for her to come and get him.

She smiled and kissed his chest thinking that she was lucky to have a man like Riddick for a mate.

--

Seth and Abby James landed two months later on Alpha Luna and made their new home. It was a small cabin in the wilderness. No neighbors for twenty miles in either direction. It was perfect.

The moonlight glistened off Abby's skin as lifted her head. Her eyes, now silver from their shine job, collided with Seth's. She never really regretted getting them done, knowing they would be living most of their lives in darkness but she missed the true golden color of his skin.

She looked at the bunched skin between his eyebrows and smiled. "Relax, Seth. I'm fine. It's normal to be sick for the first few months."

Seth grunted at her and picked her up from the floor and tucked her into their bed. He hated to see her sick but when he thought about their child growing in her belly, he always smiled.

"I love you," he muttered against her shoulder as they drifted off to sleep.

FIN __


End file.
